Mirror People
by Lord Candycane
Summary: Siblings David and Janet find their lives changed forever when they take an injured orphan named Sam to their house only to find out he is a Mirror Person, people who have supernatural powers and live in the mysterious Mirror dimension. Now, as the city is endangered by the creatures from the Mirror dimension, the three must put an end to the madness before it's too late. R&R.
1. Prologue

Everyone in Crystal City knew what a Mirror Person was. They could fly, they could fire blue laser beams out of their eyes and mouth, they could shape-shift their hands into objects, they had a living reflection, but most notable, they all had a mirror.

A mirror that could send you into the Mirror World, a world of black and blue. Was this true? Had anyone ever seen a Mirror Person pass into the Mirror World? Had anyone ever even seen a Mirror Person before?

The answer is yes.

Two young siblings would find that all of it was true when they met a very unusual boy. A boy with black hair and a blue streak in it.

…..

"Rise and shine, Sammy."

A little boy, five or six, groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. A young girl was sitting next to him on the bed. She seemed to be about a year older than him, and she had Venetian blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a white dress.

The boy, who she identified as 'Sammy', got up from the bed and yawned.

"I told you, Amanda, I prefer to be called Sam." The boy corrected. "And what do you mean, 'rise and shine'? It's 2:00 in the morning. Go to sleep like the other orphans."

Indeed, the room was filled with dozens of other young boys and girls. They were all asleep and they were all dressed in white.

Except the boy.

The boy was wearing black pyjamas. Giant blue dots were splattered all over it. His hair matched his clothing, being black with a bright blue streak in it. His eye color was relatively normal, being blue.

"I think I saw something," Amanda whispered.

"You always see things," Sam reminded. "Like when you said you saw ball lightning flying through the staircase, or when you said a ghost was talking to my sister…"

"It was a child who was glowing blue."

"…What?"

Before Amanda could respond, Sam bolted out of his bed and flew through the hallways of the orphanage. But not figuratively. He was literally _flying._

"Sam, that woman who runs the orphanage said you can't be using your powers 1:00 to 12:00 in the morning!" Amanda shouted after him. But he was long gone by then.

"Oh, I really hate it when you do that," Amanda whispered and walked slowly down the hallway where Sam had disappeared to. She was trying desperately not to awaken any of the orphans with her walking.

She wasn't doing a very good job at it, though. The ground creaked every time she walked. She wasn't very heavy, but it seemed she just had a peculiar way of walking that caused the ground to creak a lot whenever she took a step.

Amanda could hear yawning and complaining and crying from outside of the room the orphans were sleeping in. At that point she stopped tip-toeing and simply took a mad dash down the hallways. She wasn't about to stay and have to explain everything when Miss Whatever-Her-Name-Is inevitably went over to hear what all the ruckus was about.

Sprinting down the stairs, Amanda could see that the hallway downstairs was starting to become brighter, especially in comparison to how dimply lit the orphans room was.

It wasn't very comforting, considering the bright light was blue, which highly resembled the blue child she claimed to have witnessed.

By now, she could see Sam. He was hiding behind a wall and peering through the edge of the corner. His bright blue eyes were widened in shock and horror and his forehead was matted with sweat.

"Sammy!" Amanda said rather loudly. Sam snapped his head over to her and put his finger to his lips to signal her to quiet down. She got the hint.

"Sammy," Amanda whispered. "Isn't that your sister? Her 'mirror counterpart' or whatever you said they are?"

"We are getting out of here," Sam said bluntly and took Amanda by the arm. He tiptoed towards the stairs with Amanda in tow, but then the worst thing happened.

She took one step, and the ground creaked.

Instantly, the bright light started glowing even brighter and this time, what appeared to be glowing blue girl, slightly older than both of them, appeared from around the corner.

"Come on, get out of here," Sam said to Amanda, pushing her up the stairs. "I'll talk to her."

"But I've seen what happens when you upset her, she'll just-"

Not another word was uttered. A thin blue blast was fired from the blinding bright light at the two. It zipped right past Sam and slashed through Amanda's side before dissipating into thin air.

For a moment, the two children just stood there on the stairs, staring at each other in shock, and then, Amanda collapsed on the staircase, rolling down the stairs.

"A-Amanda?" Sam whispered before running to her and holding her up.

"Amanda, are you okay?" He asked worriedly. She was breathing, but just barely. Blood was dripping from the cut in her side.

By now, the bright blue girl had vanished, leaving the two children on the floor.

"Amanda, please be okay," Sam whispered, cradling Amanda and nearing tears.

The door next to the two creaked open, revealing the orphan keeper. She had clearly been awoken by the ruckus that had preceded Amanda's injury. She looked particularly exasperated and irritated, but gasped in shock when she saw the unconscious Amanda.

"Oh my," Was all she managed to whisper.

"Get help, Miss Collette," Sam whispered to the orphan keeper. Miss Collette just stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Get help," Sam repeated, a hurricane of negative emotions flooding his brain.

"…Please."

**(A/N: Well, the first chapter is over. Also, special mention, my plan is to make this into an actual movie when I'm older. So, hooray to me! R&R)**


	2. Mirror People

_**Two years later**_

"Rise and shine, David!"

David's green eyes snapped open. His sister Janet was sitting on top of him. Instantly, he snapped up from his bed covers, sending Janet flying on the floor. She rolled around, giggling.

"Great Giza, Janet, I told you to stop doing that!" David shouted, slamming his fist on the bed. "I'm the older sibling, you're supposed to listen to me!"

David was ten years old. Janet was eight, but to David, she was four. She always bounced around everywhere and always snuck into his room to wake him up. Other than that, she was okay.

"Yeah, but out parents told us they had something important to tell us and that you should be up at 6:00 A.M. to hear it," Janet said, twisting one of her pigtails with her finger.

"Oh come on, it's so early," David whined. "Our parents keep us home schooled all the time so why do we need to get up now?"

"David?" The two heard their mother shout from downstairs. "Janet?"

From the tone of her voice, both David and Janet could tell their mother really wasn't in the mood for excuses. With a groan, David dragged himself out of bed and towards the door with Janet skipping behind him.

Ever since David and Janet were born, their parents had kept them out of school. Their parents never really gave an explanation why, but David didn't really care. All he thought was that he could sleep in all he wanted and avoid having to encounter some really unpleasant kids in the city.

There were his parents. They were sitting at the dinner table, looking as positively boring and non-suspicious as possible. That was strange. David and Janet loved their parents, no denying that, but they always acted somewhat aberrant. Seeing them look so normal was a pretty big shocker for the two.

Not that their parents didn't look normal. Their father had an average height and had light brown hair and green eyes and a small moustache. Their mother had slightly paler skin, blue eyes, rather long eyelashes, and long wavy black hair. In terms of appearance, David and Janet resembled their father a little more, though Janet had her mom's eyes.

In terms of personality, though, the two always seemed to want to talk about extra-terrestrial theories and the possibilities of a life after death and anything relating to the humanly unknown. It got on David's nerves a lot of the time, but Janet seemed rather invested in it. Typical.

However, despite the cheerful look on their parents faces, David just knew they were going to start chatting off about their inscrutable hypothesises. Why else would they have sent Janet to call him so early in the morning.

"Good morning, son," Their dad said, bizarrely happy. "You seem to be in a chip mood."

David groaned and sat himself down into a chair. "Please, just tell us what you want to say so I can get back into bed."

"Yeah well, we actually have _two _things we want to get off of our chests, so you probably should wake yourself up, son," Their mom butted in.

_Are you kidding me? _David thought, exacerbated. _They had to tell us two different things at once?_

"So, honey, I heard some Texas folk finally caught the chupacabra menace," Their dad piped up. "It was a real shocker, huh?"

"Well, we can only hope someone manages to snatch themselves a live gremlin," Their mom inquired. "Humanity may be on their next step to realizing hidden truths about this strange, strange world."

_Just look in the mirror and you'll find one of those strange truths, _David thought, snickering. He didn't dare say it, though.

"Um, mum, dad, didn't you say you wanted to tell us something," Janet inquired, eating a spoonful of cereal.

"Oh right, we were," Dad said. "Well, get ready, this is going to blow your minds."

"I hope it's for real," David said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, children," Mom began. "We've told you about, vampires, and werewolves, and succubus, and goblins, and sorcerers, and ghouls, and-"

"We get it!" David cried impatiently. "Just get to the point. My bed is beckoning to me!"

"Beckoning beds?" Their mom said, confused. "That's the stupidest myth I've ever heard in my life."

"It's a figure of speech," Janet said. "He means he's tired and wants you to get this over with."

"Oh, well I'll bet he won't be tired and he hears what we have to tell him now," Dad said. "Everyone in the city knows about them, everyone in the city talks about them, except for you."

"And for good reasoning, because they probably don't exist," David said in a smart-alec voice. His parents both huffed.

"Why can't you be like Brenda Collins, she believes what we have to say," Mom said. "Brenda's an idiot, she'll believe anything," David hissed, galled at having been compared to his arch-nemesis.

"Um, you three, shouldn't we get back to what you saying," Janet said, hoping to stop a full-blown argument form breaking out. "That thing that'll 'blow our minds'."

"At least somebody in this house listens to us," Dad said. "Anyways, the anomaly that we are going to speak of today is…..wait for it…..waaaaaait for iiiiiiittt…."

"JUST BLOODY TELL US!" David shouted.

"…..Mirror people."

Silence flooded the room. David's jaw hit the table. Janet raised an eyebrow in confusion. Their parents stared at them, waiting for them to hit them with questions of this mythical creature.

Finally, David spoke.

"That's what you wanted to tell us?" David asked, his eye twitching. "You brought me out of bed at 6:00 A. M. in the morning to talk about…..mirror people? Freaking _Mirror people_?"

"You don't sound very invested," Dad said, worried.

"For the love of….I know what a mirror person is," David said. "Brenda Collins and Izzy talk about them all the time. They're people who have super-powers. Laser eyes, super-strength, flight like they're freaking Superman!"

"And Supergirl," Janet added quietly.

"Ah, but the thing is, you missed out on some very important facts about them," Mom said. "They're called mirror people for a reason."

"And that reason is?" Janet asked, actually interested in what her parents were saying.

"The thing is, Mirror people all have mirrors," Mom said. David glanced at Janet, confused, and then said, "Everyone has mirrors, what's the big deal?"

"Mirror people have mirrors that can lead into a totally different dimension, called…..the 'Mirror dimension'." Mom said.

"Yeah, real fudging original," David said sarcastically.

"That's not the only reason," Dad said. "They have a glowing blue reflection."

"So what?" David asked. "Their reflection is blue, it's not it's alive or anything."

"Except it _is _alive," Dad said. "Their reflection is as alive as the mirror person themselves. They have the same powers, too. In fact, local lore has it that a mirror person's powers are derived from their reflection."

David sat there, wide-eyed. And then he spoke.

"That was…..the crappiest load of rubbish I have ever heard in my entire, 10-year, two month, three hour, 15 minute, 55 second life," David exclaimed. His parents glared.

Janet slid onto the table between David and his parents. "Well, mummy, daddy, you said there was another thing you had to tell us," She said, hoping to avoid another confrontation.

"Oh, well, me and honey hear," Dad said, taking his wife's hand, "Have, after a one-minute discussion, decided that…..we're sending you both to school!" 

"_WHAT?!" _David and Janet shouted simultaneously. "That's the craziest thing you've said this day!" David said. "Why would you want to send us there?"

"We needed a way to get you out of the house for a while," Dad said. His wife elbowed him in the arm, causing him to quickly add, "We saw you two were very anti-social towards the other children, so sending you to school might allow you to befriend somebody."

"Daaaaaaad," David whined. "School's just a place for future psychopaths and nutcases to allow their negative abilities to manifest in ways you can't even imagine."

"Oh, come on, you'll love it there," Mom said. "Besides, you need to learn more things in life."

"We both have learned plenty of stuff right here at home," David assured. "Like what?" Mom inquired.

David gulped a bit and tried to think of something. Then, he managed to find an answer.

"I know girl's don't have cooties."

"You're going," Their parents said, finality in their voices.

David and Janet groaned. This was the going to be the worst day of their lives.


	3. Enter Brenda

A small boy, eight years old, wandered rough the massive forest surrounding Crystal City. He had pale skin, green eyes, short blonde hair, and was dressed in a simple red shirt and blue shorts. He had a gloomy expression.

"What am I going to do?" He mumbled to himself as he briefly stopped walking. "I have no school, I'm practically starving, and these are the only clothes that my sisters allow to me wear that isn't my brother's clothes as well."

He resumed walking a bit, rubbing his head. In front of him, the eaves on a tree rustled and a sparrow zipped out, flying past his face. The boy stumbled backwards in surprise, and then groaned.

A squirrel jumped out of a small hole in the tree and skittered down the tree and right towards him. The boy jumped a bit as the squirrel took off between his legs.

"I hate this forest," The boy grumbled as he sat down next to a rock.

"Well, that's an unpleasant thing to say to your home," A female voice called out from behind him.

Just as the boy spun around to see who had spoken, a girl with very messy brown hair rode towards him on her red scooter. The boy screamed in surprise and stumbled off the rock as the girl sped past him, nearly running him over.

"Hello, Woodstump," The girl said. The boy spit grass out of his mouth and got to his knees, grimacing as he instantly recognized the girl.

"Brenda Collins," He hissed angrily.

"Isn't this fancy meeting you out here at 8:00 in the morning, isn't it Woodstump" Brenda said, glancing at her watch on her right shoulder. The boy groaned. Brenda never bothered to know his name so she just settled with calling him Woodstump after the tree she often found him at.

"Not really, you always meet me around here," The boy reminded, brushing dirt of his face. The ten-year-old girl skipped off her scooter and set it down on the rock.

"Well you barely ever leave here, anyways," Brenda stated. "You only enter the city to cause trouble with everyone else like a little brat. Why is that?"

"You mean like you always cause trouble," The boy shot back. "And I don't cause trouble at all. They messed with me, so I messed with them. It's an eye for an eye, simple."

"No, it's not simple," Brenda said. "You just spend your time in this forest like you live here. You don't go to school, you don't have any relatives as far as me or anyone else is concerned, and you don't have a home. It's like your some kind of hobo or something."

"I am not a hobo," The boy claimed. "I have a home, and relatives, and I don't need to go to school. I'm better off without it."

Brenda laughed. "You are such a stubborn little ragamuffin," She taunted. "If you have all these things you say you have, than where in all of Crystal City are they?"

The boy glared into Brenda's hazel eyes in deep hatred. He wanted to say something, anything, but then he realized he couldn't tell her about his home.

"That's what I thought, Woodstump," Brenda said, victorious, before hopping onto her scooter and turning around to ride off on it. At that point, the boy finally found a retort.

"My home is a lot better than yours, Collins."

Brenda planted her foot on the ground to stop her scooter. She dropped it on the ground, spun around, and stomped towards Sam.

"When you actually show me this home of yours, I'll take your word for it," Brenda said. "But until that happens, you are nothing but a little, measly hobo." With that, she ran off, got back on her scooter and rode off onto the road and towards her school.

"Yeah, well I'll never show you because it's too awesome for the likes of you!" The boy shouted out at her, but she was long gone. He snorted, then turned began to walk past over the road when a small black car drove up.

The boy screamed and leapt out of the way as the car drove past him at top speed.

"Crazy idiots!" The boy shouted. "You almost ran me over!" But the drivers didn't hear him. They were driving over to the same school Brenda was heading to.

"This is so going to blow," David said from in the car. He and Janet were both dressed up in church clothes, having been told by their parents that it would give off a good impression.

"I don't know, David, maybe we could actually befriend a few of those kids," Janet suggested hopefully. David groaned.

"This is even worse than when our parents agreed to have Brenda come over to have play-dates with us several months ago," David said. "And they still let her come over after all that time."

"Hey, quiet back there," Their father barked at them from in the driver's seat. "And besides, we're already here. The Crystal City Independent School District."

David and Janet glanced through the window to get a look at the school. It was certainly a meaningful name; the school was entirely made out of sparkling crystal. It was pretty big, ten stories high. It looked more like an office building than a school.

"Wow, this place is so huge," Janet gasped in amazement. "And weird," David added.

"Now, no more complaining," Their dad said as he and the two got out of the car. "This is your first day of school, and you're going to like it."

"Fast chance of that happening," David mumbled under his breath as he and Janet neared the giant crystal building.

As David, Janet and their dad began to near the school, David whispered to Janet, "Okay, if we're going to survive this day, here are a few tips. Avoid eye contact with Izzy and Brenda, avoid talking to Izzy and Brenda, and just all around avoid Izzy and Brenda."

And then the worst thing happened.

"Hey son, I looked at the school classroom boards, and you're in the same class as Izzy and your best friend Brenda Collins," Their dad said.

David paled.

"W-what?" He stammered. "N-n-no, that c-can't be t-true."

He raced over and glanced at the classroom boards, and his worst fears were confirmed.

**Mrs. Worthington's Class**

**Izzy Olsen – 11**

**Brenda Collins - 10**

**David Barret – 10**

Those were the only three names David read, and his eye twitched. His lips trembled, and he let out a scream.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Well, look what the brat dragged in," A voice said.

David grimaced as he forced himself to turn around and face his worst nightmare. And there she was, the 11 year old, red-headed little horror, Izzy Olsen.


	4. First Day of School

David clenched his knuckles as he stared at Izzy.

There was no mistake about her. Her pale skin, her short red hair that barely reached her shoulders, her shiny green eyes, and her trademark bloody red shirt with pitch black sleeves and dark blue jeans, it was totally Izzy.

"What an occult consternation," Izzy said in her despicably taunting voice. "David Barret and his kid sister Janet. You finally decided to stop living in your shell of a domicile and went to school, didn't you?"

David's eye twitched. He hated that obnoxious way she spoke. Half of the time he didn't even know what she was saying.

Izzy took a look at the school boards and flashed a grimace.

"And what a fallacious coincidence, we're in the same class," She said casually. David groaned, irritated.

"This doesn't make sense," David said. "You're a year older than me, why do we have to be stuck together for the rest of the school year."

"Well, David, 10 and 11 year olds are usually placed in the same classes so it's not out of the ordinary," Janet explained. "I didn't need an answer," David grumbled. "Sorry," Janet whispered, then turned around and started whistling a bit.

"Well, Izzy, your hair sure is shorter," David pointed out, trying to change the subject and also possibly embarrass Izzy as an added bonus.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Izzy said. "Your hair was shoulder length the last time I saw you," David pointed out. "Now it barely goes past your ears."

Izzy's confident expression faltered. "I lacerated it," She claimed. "It helps me stand out from the crowd."

"You mean aside from having the most least common hair color on the whole planet," David said, grinning mischievously. His comment earned him a smack upside the head from his father.

"Son, show more respect for your classmates," His dad berated. "I told you to make a good first impression on them."

David rubbed the back of his head and grimaced. Just then, a teacher blew a whistle, signaling the children to line up in front of their respective teachers for a roll call.

David got in front of the other kids when Izzy pulled him backwards. "I'm the oldest child in this class, therefor I should be first," Izzy said. "That logic sucks," David said. "Just go with it," Izzy whispered and turned her head from him.

The teachers started calling names from the children. It was unbelievably boring for David, so he turned to see what Janet was doing. She was standing behind all the other kids and had a glum expression on her usually cheerful face.

Eventually, the roll call ended and the children all surged into the school, David and Janet included. The two glanced around the school inside. It was massive, and there were so many stairs and rooms and doors. The two grimaced. They weren't used to so many people being in the same place.

Right at the moment, David and Janet wished that they had never gone to school and that they would never go there again. What they didn't know was that outside of the school, someone was thinking the opposite.

"I never get to go to schools," The boy Brenda had talked with earlier said gloomily. He was sitting on a rock a few meters away from the school.

"Why me?" He asked nobody in particular. "Why did I have to be the odd kid out?"

"Hey," A small voice whispered. The boy turned around to see a familiar face. It was a girl with short, curly black hair, blue eyes, and a similar skin tone. She was dressed in a black coat despite it being extremely sunny.

"Oh, hi Kizzy," The boy said. "What are you doing at the school?" Kizzy asked, tilting her head. "Your sisters told you not to go there."

"Yeah, but I was just thinking..."

"No thinking, after all, you said you didn't need school, Sam," Kizzy said. At that, Sam sighed before getting off the rock and following Kizzy away.

...

The school day proved to be just as bad as David had thought it would be. The teachers spent the time spouting out never-ending monologues about the environment and mathematics. The only parts of school he liked, recess and lunch, passed by so quickly it was like they never even happened. And the other kids were unbearable, especially Izzy and Brenda.

David had the bad luck of being seated in front of both Izzy and Brenda. Occasionally, Izzy would poke David with a pencil or a ruler. Every time David would glance around, and every time Brenda would say, "Why are you staring at us girls, ya perv."

Janet wasn't having a much better time. At home she was talkative and cheery, but at school, being unfamiliar with all the other children, she remained quiet and was practically invisible to the teacher and the students, save for one boy with braces who sat next to her and would occasionally yank on her pigtail.

After what seemed like an eternity, school ended. The kids placed their chairs on the desks, packed their school bags and took off. No one was more eager to leave than David. After being tortured endlessly, he was glad to be out of school.

Now, he just had to find Janet, and they would be out of there.

He soon found her near the playground, on a swing. She appeared to be waiting for him. David had never felt so glad before to see his sister, and bolted towards her so they could finally leave the school.

However, he was so happy that he didn't watch where he was going. He unexpectedly crashed into Izzy, who had been talking to Brenda about something.

David crashed face-first on the ground while Izzy stumbled and fell into a mud puddle. David, Brenda and Janet gasped as they saw Izzy splash into the mud puddle.

Izzy's mouth dropped as she saw herself drenched in mud. She glanced up at David, and for a moment, he swore her eyes were glowing with fury. From the look on her face, he was sure he was about to get a smack down or at least a verbal backlash.

But none of it came. Instead, Izzy just got out of the puddle, wiped the mud off her shirt and jeans and said, "If you excuse me, I'm going home. Goodbye, Brenda." With that, she took off into the forest.

"Now look what you did," Brenda berated. "You upset her."

"It was an accident!" David shouted, kind of humiliated himself. "I didn't see her in front of me, and I...I uh..."

"Hey, Brenda, what were you and Izzy talking about?" Janet asked, trying to change the subject. "You both seemed pretty engrossed in it."

"For your information, we were talking about the strange phenomenon known as Mirror People," Brenda answered. "But I doubt your little eight-year-old brain can comprehend what they are."

"Oh for crying out loud, mirror people do not exist!" David shouted, piqued. "Why do all of you refuse to accept that?"

"Because they are real," Brenda said. "People say they've witnessed evidence of it."

"I don't believe you," David said and crossed his arms. "Hey, I think I know what a mirror person is," Janet said. Both David and Brenda turned to stare at her.

"You can't possibly know what they are, you're too little," Brenda said. "No I'm not," Janet said, insulted. "I can prove I know what they are."

"Than what are they?" Brenda challenged.

"They're...uh, humans who have several powers like laser eyes, super strength and flight," Janet answered, remembering what David had said earlier.

Brenda's eyebrow raised in confusion. "Then why are they called Mirror people?" She asked. "Because they have a mirror that can lead them to a different dimension AND they have a living reflection in that dimension."

Brenda stood speechless. She had not expected Janet to have that much knowledge on Mirror people. Eventually, she just said, "Well, uh, I guess I'll be looking forward to our little play date this afternoon, won't we David and Janet?"

Before either of the children could really respond, Brenda took off away from the school. The moment she was gone, David yanked on Janet's pigtails, eliciting a brief scream of pain.

"Why did you tell her that?" He asked. "You know she's just going to pester us about it when she comes over with her parents."

"Yeah, but I just thought maybe that would allow her to respect us," Janet justified. "Brenda will NEVER respect either of us, ever, and that is final!" David shouted. Then he looked at his wristwatch.

"Oh my gosh, it's 3:50!" He shouted. "Mom wanted us home at 3:10!"

Janet gulped, knowing how their mother could get when they got angry. "Come on, before we get the paddle!" David shouted and he grabbed Janet by the sleeves and the two raced down the streets.


	5. Creepy Kids

It was 4:15 in the afternoon. Ever since school had ended, most of the children had either gone home or were still out in the city for various reasons.

The sky was darkening and the sun was starting to get blotted out by large gray clouds, obscuring the light. With the lack of sunlight, it appeared to be night time instead of the afternoon. Nevertheless, the people of Crystal City went on with their usual business.

"I want a Smarties candy," A small Asian girl with pigtails said. Her mother briefly reached for one, but apparently out of nowhere, the Smarties candy was hoisted into the air. Nobody appeared to be touching it.

"What the…" The Dollarama shopkeeper whispered as the Smarties candy floated silently through the air and towards the exit. Everyone stopped and stared, confused, at the candy as it made it's way to the open door, and with a swish, vanished outside.

The moment the candy was outside the door, a small hand snatched it. It was Sam.

"I guess there are some advantages to having super powers," He whispered to himself and ripped the lid off the car before grabbing the Smarties candies and shoving them into his mouth.

He skipped from outside the alley and towards the sidewalk.

"Look at that little orphan without a care in the world," A voice said. Sam grumbled and turned around to see a trio of girls around his age. The tallest one, a blonde girl with blue eyes, was in the front.

"Living alone in a place filled with dangerous wild animals and horrible people," She mocked. "He should of died a long time ago."

"He belongs in an orphanage, that's where," The shortest of the girls with brown hair said. "Surrounded with other kids like him."

Sam glared angrily, enraged at their comments. The three girls didn't seem to notice.

"So, orphan, what are doing alone and helpless in the forest like that?" The dark-skinned girl asked. "Yes, explain orphan," The blonde girl said.

Sam, quite honestly, didn't want to have to explain to the three girls. They probably wouldn't believe him, anyways. So, he decided there was only one way out.

A pick-up truck was driving across the street. Quickly, a third, transparent hand shot out of Sam's back, grabbing the moving truck and yanking it, dragging it's direction to the three girls.

The truck driver and the three girls screamed in terror. However, the driver just barely managed to regain control over the truck and steered it away form the girls. However, the truck splashed a puddle of mud onto all three girls, drenching their clothes.

The three girls screamed in horror. In the confusion, nobody had seen the third hand emerge from Sam's back. They also didn't see Sam slip away and take off down the streets.

"Yeesh, that was a close one," Sam said. He slipped past several people before finding the girl he was looking for,

"Hey, Kizzy!" He said. Kizzy was leaning against the wall to a bar, her arms folded across her chest and her eyes lips pursed as she waited for Sam to come. She looked irritated.

"You sure did a good job of hiding your powers," She said sarcastically when he arrived.

"Oh, you saw that?" Sam giggled nervously. He rubbed the back of his head. Kizzy finally turned to look at him and saw the Smarties candy.

"What is that?" She asked, her eyebrow raised. Sam raised his hand with the Smarties and said, "It's a Smarties candy, I think. I just thought maybe I could-"

Kizzy snatched the Smarties candy. "This is junk!" She snapped before tossing it into a garbage can. "But I thought it tasted good," Sam argued.

"No more talking out of you!" Kizzy hissed. "The bus is arriving, let's just go home before Mirror Bella gets upset at you!"

Indeed, a bus was driving in close to the bar. The doors opened, and a few families started to get inside. Kizzy grabbed Sam by the wrist and dragged him to the bus.

As they started to get in, the bus driver gasped in shock as he saw them. "I know you!" He said. "You're those two creepy kids!"

Kizzy glared at him and growled viciously. The bus driver stared at them, then at the other passengers, who were staring confused at him, and then said, "Of course, you two are allowed on this bus, though."

Kizzy flashed a menacing smile before hoisting Sam into the bus and taking a seat near the front of the buss, along with Sam. As they did, Sam noticed a few of the passengers in the front begin to move to the back of the bus.

"Look at them, they're afraid of us," Sam whispered to Kizzy. "Better that they are, then we get less problems," Kizzy replied as the bus started moving.

Sam sighed as he saw several families move away from his and Kizzy's seat.

Before long, the bus was passing by the forest when Kizzy shouted, "Stop the bus!"

"You want to stop here?" The bus driver asked. "This is the middle of nowhere."

"Exactly!" Kizzy shouted as the driver reluctantly stopped the bus. She and Sam hopped off their seats and took off out of the bus. The driver eventually shrugged and drove off.

"This was an odd day," Sam said. "Aren't they always?" Kizzy replied as she led Sam through the forest. Finally, they stopped a an old tree trunk.

"There it is," Kizzy said, her eyes gleaming in delight as she pushed some leaves off the tree, revealing a large, yellow mirror.

"Now, let's get you inside before we're spotted," Kizzy said. And with that, she suddenly pushed Sam towards the mirror, and he slipped right into it. The surface began to ripple slightly like that of water before settling down.

"Let's just hope Mirror Bella isn't too impatient," Kizzy said. With that, she jumped into the mirror as well.


	6. Violent Encounter

It was 4:30 in the afternoon, and David and Janet were trekking through the forest towards their house, which was still too far away for them to see.

"You know, you would think that our parents would have gone and picked us up at school," David huffed at Janet. "You know, instead of having us walk all the way there."

"I don't know, David, this seems like as good opportunity to exercise," Janet replied enthusiastically. She started balancing on a recently knocked-over tree.

David groaned, exasperated. "Tell that to our parents when we get home over an hour after we were supposed to," He snapped.

Both he and Janet glanced around at the forest around them. The forest looked extremely foreign. There was a roadway a few meters outside the forest, and a massive lake next to it.

"So, uh, just where are we exactly?" Janet asked, somewhat nervous. David didn't respond. The unfamiliar area, coupled by the darkened skies, suddenly increased a sense of fear.

Grabbing Janet's by the arm, David said, "You know what, let's just get out of here before-"

The two heard a hissing sound. The siblings spun around shakily to see a green snake slithering through the grass around them. Janet squeaked and was about to sprint off when she stopped in her tracks. A grey wolf lumbered out from past a tree and stared unmoving at them.

David started hyperventilating at the sight. The wolf continued to glare with it's piercing yellow eyes. Janet's teeth started chattering.

The silence was broken by a howling that caused Janet to yelp and clutch David in fear. The wolf instantly sprinted past them. The two shut their eyes in terror.

AS David opened his eyes a bit, several sparrows flew out of the trees and right over them. David jumped and his mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"Dav-David, I want to go home," Janet whispered to David. David nodded slowly. Then he took one step forward and stepped on a tree branch, causing it to snap in two.

David jumped in shock and landed near a bush. Instantly, the bush started rustling uneasily and they could hear growling sounds inside. As the two kids stared at the bush in fear, a wolverine pounced out towards them.

That did it. David and Janet screamed and took off through the forest, running over tree trunks, rocks, and bushes. They just had to get home and out of this wretched forest.

Soon enough, they found themselves near the edge of the forest at standing at the driveway next to the lake. There were no signs of cars or animals nearby, so it seemed safe enough.

"Okay, that driveway leads to our neighbourhood," David explained. "Let's just get there quickly before it rains, and maybe explain why we were over an hour later."

Janet nodded and the two were about to step out onto the road when they saw something they had neglected to notice beforehand.

It was a little girl. Her back was turned to them, and she was sitting on the road, facing the pond. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and she was rocking back and forth, humming a happy song.

David and Janet inched a bit closer. The sky was darkening quickly, so it was hard to get a good look at her. She seemed totally oblivious to their presence.

"Um, little girl," David whispered. She didn't appear to hear him.

"Little girl, you should probably get off the road," David said, a little louder. "It's dangerous." Once again, the girl ignored him.

David rolled his eyes and walked onto the road. He had to get her off the road before a car came. "You know, you're doing a pretty good job ignoring me," David said, trying to get her attention. She was still humming.

At this point, David was only inches away from the girl, and he could now get a slightly better look at her. She wasn't little; she was at least the same height as him. Her hair was very long and concealed her face, and he could see that she was glowing.

_Glowing._

David's eyes popped open as he suddenly noticed the bright blue aura surrounding her. She was glowing blue, and he could plainly see that her hair and skin were blue as well

"Oh my, oh my, g-gosh," David stammered as he saw the moon, which had appeared earlier than usual, illuminate the girl, revealing her glowing blue skin.

"David?" Janet shouted. She had gone on the road to see what David was doing. And in the worst case of bad luck in the situation, that one word finally caused the glowing blue girl to snap her around and see the two, revealing eyes glowing so bright they were almost blinding.

David and Janet stood on the road, frozen in shock, and the girl jumped up in surprise before flinging her hand at David, causing him to back away, nervous. Instantly, glowing blue ice pellets were fired out of her fingers at David. David gasped in shock and ducked as the pellets flew over his head.

The pellets struck a tree and shattered, sending ice everywhere. Several struck Janet in the head. She gasped in pain and collapsed in pain. David turned around in horror and the ice struck him as well. He went down hard and hit his head on the road.

The girl stared at the two unconscious children in front of her in shock. She glanced at the town and noticed that a large pick-up truck was approaching, the same one that Sam had used to prank the girls at the city.

Without a second glance, the girl turned around and retreated into the forest, leaving the two children to their fate.

…..

"Now, Samson, remember not to near that stupid school tomorrow," Kizzy said. She was dressed in a black nightgown with blue stripes.

"Yes, Kizzy," Sam said. He was dressed in his black and blue pyjamas, and he now looked different. His eyes were blue instead of green, his blonde hair was black with the blue streak in it, and his pale skin was now tanned.

"You be a good mirror boy, and behave like always," Kizzy said. "Now goodnight." With that, she snapped her fingers and the glowing blue room instantly became dark, and she vanished.

Sam sighed. "Why do I always have to go to bed at 5:00 in the afternoon?" He mumbled to himself. He was about to close his eyes, when he heard a scream. It was coming from outside the mirror.

Sam jumped up and got out of his bed. He heard a thud on the pavement immediately afterwards. From the sound of it, it was coming from on the road near the forest.

Slowly, Sam got out of bed. He glanced at the bed next to him. His sister was in it, wearing a similar black and blue pyjamas. Her head was tucked under the covers.

Sam sneaked out of the bed, put on his blue slippers, and slipped out of the room. He felt an uneasiness the moment he was out of the room.

_I should be in bed, _Sam thought to himself. _But I need to find what caused the scream on the road._

He slowly jumped walked to the mirror that was hanging on the wall, and turned back. At the moment, he wanted to just go back in bed and ignore the scream, but he felt like something was telling him to go and find the source of it.

With a shrug, Sam slipped through the mirror, and found himself back in the forest. He covered the mirror with several leaves and then walked over to the road.

He suddenly felt the urge to return to the mirror and go back to bed, but he fought it. He had to go and find who had screamed and why they had. He slowly approached the road, and that was when he saw them.

It was David and Janet. Both of them lay unconscious on the road, and out of the corner of Sam's eye, he could see the pick-up truck driving closer.

"Oh crap!" Sam shouted as he saw the driver hadn't seen the two kids. It was too dark outside for him to notice them. Sam realized that he had to act quickly.

Sam ran near the road and two transparent hands shot out of his back and grabbed David, pulling him near the forest and out of harms way. Soon enough, David was in the forest.

Now Sam turned his attention to Janet. She was groaning in pain, and the truck was getting closer. Sam took a step closer, about to pull her off the road two, when he slipped on the ice on the ground. He collapsed on the ground and rubbed his head in pain. He then glanced up and saw that the truck was only inches away from hitting Janet.

"No!" Sam shouted, and he sprung onto the road and pushed Janet off the road and onto the grass near the lake. However, as Sam was about to run off the road, the truck slammed right into him.

By now, both David and Janet had recovered. The two watched in horror as they saw Sam's small body flung off the road and plummet into the lake. The truck skidded to a stop.

"What just happened?!" The truck driver shouted as he saw that the engine to his truck had been jammed as a result of hitting Sam.

Neither kid answered him. Janet saw Sam sink, unconscious, down into the lake. Quickly, she raced towards the lake.

"Janet, no!" David shouted, but she didn't hear. She just dove right down into the lake after Sam. David raced towards the lake as the truck driver stood out of the truck, confused.

"J-Janet?" David whispered worriedly as neither Janet nor Sam resurfaced. Bubbles were appearing at the top of the lake.

"Janet, where are you?" David asked. The bubbles started becoming more rapid and violent, and David gasped in horror as his sister appeared to be drowning from under the lake.

David covered his eyes in horror, unwilling to look, when he heard a splash. David removed his hands from his eyes and saw Janet, gasping for air, her face soaking with water and her hair wet and matted over her ears. And in her arms, David saw an unconscious Sam.

Janet reached towards David, and he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the lake, along with Sam. Janet set Sam down on the grass. He was breathing heavily, but there were no signs of serious damage done to him from the truck.

"Is he dead?" Janet asked, ignoring the fact that he was breathing. David glanced down at him. "No, but he's lucky you were there," He said, a little proud. However, he then yanked on her pigtails and added, "Don't ever scare me like that again."

Janet quickly nodded and said, "How'd he survive a head-on collision like that?"

"You know, you probably should get him to a hospital," The driver said form afar. The kids took no notice.

"I don't know, but he must be very strong to have done that," David said. "Seriously, but what were you doing on the road?" The driver asked. Once more, the kids took no notice.

"Look at that stripe in his hair," Janet said, pointing at the blue streak. "It's called a streak, not a stripe," David corrected.

"Why are you worrying about his hair?" The driver asked. When neither kid responded, the driver just said, "You know what, I'm just going to go and get my truck fixed, okay."

David and Janet nodded, scarcely noticing. The truck driver got into his damaged truck and drove off, leaving the three kids.

The clouds started to darken in the skies, and thunder sounded from above. "We should go home," David said to Janet.

"But what about-"

"We'll take him home too!" David said. "Now get up!" He and Janet picked up Sam and started carrying him into the neighbourhood as rain started pouring down on them and lightning struck.


	7. Introductions

Mr. and Mrs. Barret paced around the living room, agitated. It was 5:20 and there was no sign of either of their kids, and they were understandingly displeased. If they had known their kids had nearly died, they still would have been angry.

"I can't believe they stayed out so long in the afternoon of all times," Mr. Barret said. "What could they possibly be doing so late?"

"And Brenda and her parents are coming soon," Mrs. Barret complained. "If David and Janet aren't here then we'll have to entertain them for their stay here."

Th two sat down on the couch and groaned. Immediately afterwards, they heard a knock on the door.

"Oh great, the Collins are here already," Mr. Barret mumbled. "And they came early. Oh well, better invite them in and hide the fact that are kids are missing."

With a groan, Mrs. Barret flung the door open, but lucky for them, it wasn't the Collins, but instead David. He was soaking in the pouring rain, and his school bag was half-open.

"David Barret, you have better have an excellent explanation for not returning to the house in nearly two hours!" Mrs. Barret shouted. "And where's Janet?"

David rubbed the back of his head, nervous, when Janet appeared. "Oh, we have a good explanation alright," She said, revealing an unconscious Sam in her arms.

Their parents gasped in shock. "What happened to him?" Mrs. Barret asked. "He got hit by a truck saving us from death," David explained quickly.

Mrs. Barret pulled on the blue streak in Sam's hair. "Wow, you know what you usually find blue hair on?" He asked her husband.

"You don't think we're really staring at one?" Mr. Barret said in amazement. "You can't be serious," David said in disbelief.

"Yes, the blue streak, the suspicious pattern of his clothing, his eye color," Mrs. Barret said. "Great Heavens, we've found one. We've a mirror person!"

"Oh for the love of..." David said but was cut off by his parents.

"We'll be famous!" Mr. Barret said. "We'll be known as the family that captured a live mirror person!"

"Mom and dad, it's a little boy!" Janet shouted, causing everyone to quiet down. It was rare for Janet to yell at anyone, least of all her family.

"He was hit by a truck and nearly drowned, and you're accusing him of being a mythical creature that may or may not be real?" Janet accused angrily.

Silence filled the room as the three stared at Janet in disbelief. Eventually, however, their dad said, "Well, how about we let our little...'guest' stay over until he heals properly, now should we?"

His wife nodded.

"Besides, I'm sure he'll be in a chipper mood once he's awake," Janet suggested, calming down and regaining her cheerful demeanor.

...

Sam's eyes fluttered open, his vision blurred. He could see the ceiling, but it looked different from the one he was used to. Then he turned his head around and saw two figures.

"Oh, sweet, he's awake," Janet said to David "Hi, little kid!"

Sam's eyes snapped open and in an instant, he jumped up into the air and landed on the ground. The two siblings could here a groan of pain from the other side of the bed.

"Um, are you okay?" David asked.

A hand gripped the covers, and Sam pulled himself up. However, the siblings saw his appearance had been greatly altered. He now had his blonde hair, green eyes, and pale complection.

The two siblings stared in confusion at Sam.

"Well, will you tell me what I'm doing here?" Sam asked, acting like he didn't notice his new appearance.

"Weren't you a brunette a few moments ago?" David asked. "And had blue eyes, and a blue streak, and darker skin?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sam said with a glint in his green eyes. David's eye twitched. "Oh, of course you have an idea what you're talking about," He said.

"The real question is, who are you and why did you abduct me?" Sam asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm Janet Barret, and this is my big brother David Barret," Janet introduced. "And who, may I ask, are you? I've never seen you around here in my life."

"Well I have," David said. "You're that homeless orphan who loiters around in the forest like some creep." Janet elbowed him in the arm.

"So is that why you brought me here?" Sam asked, taking an unsteady step towards them. "You think I'm freaky for not having a home so you decided to kidnap me and give me a home against my will?"

"No, you were hit by a truck and nearly drowned, but I saved you," Janet said.

"You...saved me?" Sam asked, and a look of shock crossed his face. "Yeah, but you were hurt so we had to bring you here to try and nurse you back to health," Janet continued.

Sam retained his uninterested expression and took a few more steps towards the door. "Where do you think you're going," David asked.

"I'm going back to my family," Sam explained. "My brother and sisters should be able to heal me." However, the moment he opened the door, he collapsed onto his knees, groaning in pain.

"You're still injured," Janet said. "There's no way you can get all the way from the neighbourhood to your home, wherever it is?"

"So...you're holding me hostage!" Sam accused, pointing a rigid finger at them. "Well, if you creeps think you can keep me here, I'll...I'll...oh no." He collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Right at that moment, Mrs. Barret burst into the door. "The Collins are here!"

"Are you kidding me!" David shouted. "No, they are downstairs," Mrs. Barret said. "Make Brenda Collins feel welcome, and get that kid off the floor." With that, she shut the door.

David sighed heavily. "Janet, occupy Sam," He said. "I'll deal with Brenda downstairs and keep her away from both of you."

Janet stared down at Sam, confused. "But you're a boy and he's a boy, and since I'm a girl and Brenda's a girl, shouldn't I be the one to occupy her?" She asked.

"No questions!" David said, and he vanished out the door.

"Um, okay then," Janet said. She glanced at Sam, uncertain. "Oh boy, how am I going to do this?"


	8. The Play-Date

David trailed down the stairs towards the living room to meet with the Collins. Janet's words rang in his head as he did.

''_But you're a boy and he's a boy, and since I'm a girl and Brenda's a girl, shouldn't I be the one to occupy her?"_

Honestly, he truly wished that Janet was the one to occupy Brenda. Then he wouldn't have to spend the afternoon having to entertain that bimbo.

But for some reason, he felt responsible for his sister. He didn't want the likes of Brenda being with Janet or Sam and filling either up with her crap. Janet was much too young for that and Sam may have been acting like a douche, but he was still injured and didn't need any other problems for today.

The moment he was down the stairs, he saw them. There was Brenda Collins with her despicable innocent smile, her despicable messy long hair, and her despicable dirty clothes. And standing next to her were her parents, Bob and Mary.

Bob was short and chubby with fair skin, light blonde hair and green eyes, and he wore striped business clothes with a long red necktie. Mary was rather short as well but was still a head taller than her husband, and had peach skin and dirty dark brown hair and hazel eyes and wore a trench coat. It was clear to see which parent Brenda got her looks from.

"Ugh, this place smells worse than my garbage bin," Mary said, holding her nose in disgust. It was also clear to see where Brenda got her attitude from, it appears.

"Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Collins," Mrs. Barret greeted. "Yeah, yeah, just get us some rice and chicken and a place to sit," Mary said snobbishly and shoved past David's parents.

"Oh, and have your son direct little Brenda to his room so they can have they're little play date," Bob instructed and followed Mary to the kitchen.

David's parents simultaneously groaned. "Okay, David, do as the Collins say," Mrs. Barret said.

"Yippee!" Brenda shouted and wrapped her arms around David's neck, hugging him tightly. "We're going to have so much fun, Mrs. Barret," She said. David just groaned. He knew Brenda was just feigning innocence to remain on his parents good side.

"Okay, well you two have fun," Mrs. Barret said, sporting a fake smile. As David and Brenda sprinted upstairs, she then added, "While we have to spend the afternoon with those lowlifes."

"So, Davy Jones, where's your kid sister?" Brenda asked David the moment they were upstairs. "I have no idea what you're talking about," David lied.

"You know, Little Jane," Brenda replied. David rolled his eyes. He hated Brenda's knack for nicknaming people. It got so repetitive.

"Little Jane walked across the lane," David responded sarcastically. "Like where you should go."

Brenda laughed a bit and then shoved David into his room. "So you seriously don't believe in them?" She asked, changing the subject. "What are you talking about?" David asked.

"You know, mirror people," Brenda said. David's eye twitched rapidly and he gritted his teeth. "Oh, for the love of…they don't exist!" David shouted. "I'm fed up with this! My whole life is getting turned upside down because of this whole mirror people fiasco!"

"Oh, but they are real," Brenda said. "Everyone knows they're real except for you and possibly Little Jane, who I need to have a word with."

"You will not have any word with Janet and fill her up with your insane hypothesises!" David screamed. "Janet is going to grow up, and she is going to grow up as healthy woman without you being around to trouble her. Am I clear?!"

"Hey, what's going on up there?" The two heard Mr. Barret shout from downstairs. "Uh, nothing dad," David fibbed.

Brenda patted David on the head. "Oh, poor Davy," She mocked. "You act all high and mighty and in control but in the end, you just do what mommy and daddy wants."

David inhaled deeply as he struggled to keep from strangling her. "Ugh, I hope Janet's having a better afternoon than me," He said.

…..

"I'm just saying, boy, you could use a few friends," Janet pleaded to the recently awakened Sam. Sam responded by huffing and tracing around the room, agitated.

"So, Sam, that is what David said your name was, right?" Janet asked. Sam reluctantly nodded. "How did he know what my name is?" He asked.

"Word gets around," Janet suggested. Sam stared at her, and his eyebrow furrowed, and he continued tracing around the room.

Janet's pigtails drooped a bit at Sam's lack of response. Sitting on the bed, Janet squinted her eyes as she tried to come up with something else to say to him.

"I heard there are mirror people living in the city," She said. Sam froze and he grimaced before turning to stare at Janet.

"And how do you know about this?" He asked through gritted teeth. "Oh, my parents talk about it, Brenda talks about it…." Janet said but paused for a bit as she tried to remember somebody else to mentioned it.

"Brenda talks bull, you don't need to trust her," Sam said, crawling onto the bed. "Yeah, but she's one of the few people to notice me at school," Janet mentioned, and she hung her head down.

Sam groaned, irritated." Please don't tell me you're one of those over-emotional, whiney, depressed, sob-buckets in movies my sisters show me way too often," He pleaded. "Because I'm injured enough after getting hit by a truck."

Janet raised her head. "Oh no, I'm just fine," She said, and smiled.

"Seriously, what were you guys doing on the road like that?" Sam asked. "You nearly got yourself, and more importantly, me, atomized."

Janet shifted a little closer to Sam. "Well, we were going home after being left at school," She explained. "But on the way, David saw this girl who was glowing blue and-"

"Girl who was glowing blue?!" Sam shouted unexpectedly, and in an instant, Janet found herself slammed on the ground, Sam's hands wrapped around her neck

"What did you see?!" He demanded angrily. "Did you see her face and how she looked like! If you did, I will personally throw YOU into the path of a truck!" He tightened the grip on her neck.

"What are you talking about?" Janet asked fearfully, a beat of sweat dripping down her forehead. "I barely even saw her when I got struck in the head and fell unconscious!"

Sam glared down at her, appearing not to believe her, but then he raised his eyebrow as if he was considering if she was telling the truth. The grip on her neck loosened, and Sam collapsed next to her, groaning in pain. It was clear the effects of the truck collision hadn't worn off.

Janet sat up and struggled to regain her breath. As she did, David opened the door.

"Uh, what just happened?" He asked as he noticed the half-conscious Sam and Janet with deep marks on her throat.

"Uh, me and him just hit a few rough edges," She said, coughing a bit. "But who knew a kid like him could be so strong."

Before David could respond, Brenda kicked the door open, startling the siblings. "Oh, there you are Little Jane," She said joyfully.

"Not you, get out!" David shouted, and he grabbed Brenda by the arm and forcibly dragged her out of the room.

The moment they were gone, Janet stared down at the still half-conscious Sam and sighed to herself.

"Why does every attempt to befriend someone end like this?" She asked no one in particular.

…..

"What is your problem?" Brenda asked David back in his room. "Can people not say hello in the Barret household?"

"One, you didn't say hello, and two, I thought I told you I didn't want you talking to my sister!" David reminded.

"You're too literal," Brenda snapped. "And besides, you can't control who she can or cannot be friends with. You're not his dad, though he's probably not any better."

"Oh, I'm not controlling her choice in friends, I'm just steering her in the path of the _right _friends, and you are not friend material for her!" David shouted, jabbing a finger into her shoulder.

Brenda responded by roughly pushing him onto his bed. "And you're not brother material for her!" She shot back. "I haven't seen a more pathetic excuse for an older sibling ever!"

"Take that back!" David shouted furiously.

"You're an imbecile of a brother-"

"Stop it!"

"You're too over-bearing-"

"Shut up!"

"And it's no wonder that Janet's has such low self-esteem!"

That was the last straw. David clenched his fist, drew back his arm, and clocked Brenda right in the nose, sending her stumbling out of the room.

"So much for a play date," She hissed as she held her bloody nose, and she lunged at David like a hungry leopard.

…..

"Oh, I am going to strangle those Collins," Mr. Barret growled as he and his wife sat at the kitchen table with Brenda's parents.

"Hey, Felix, calm your balls!" Mary said, grinning maliciously. "Oh wait a minute, you don't have any!" She and Bob broke out into laughter. Felix Barret narrowed his eyes.

"G-Get it, Agatha, you're husband has no balls!" Bob said as if it were a joke. He and Mary continued cackling, slamming their hands on the table and hooting with laughter. Felix's eye twitched and Agatha pursed her lips.

"Don't worry, honey, it's our kids getting along that counts," Agatha whispered through gritted teeth. Just then, the two couples heard a crash upstairs, followed by sounds of David and Brenda screamed.

"What the hell was that?" Mary asked as she, Felix, Agatha and Bob got out of their chairs and ran towards the stairs.

The moment they got there, they saw David and Brenda tumbling down the stairs, locked in battle. David landed on top of Brenda and began throttling her while Brenda repeatedly smacked his face.

"David, cut it out!" Felix ordered, but he kept throttling Brenda. "Brenda, what are you doing?" Bob asked. The two kids continued fighting.

Agatha grabbed David and tore him off of Brenda, who was hoisted into the air by Bob and Mary. Brenda had a bloody nose while David had a black eye.

"What has gotten into you two!" Agatha demanded, gripping David's arm. "She said I'm a bad brother," David accused. "Brenda, what is wrong with you?!" Agatha shouted.

"Hey, you can't yell at my daughter!" Bob shouted. "Only me and my wife can yell at my daughter!"

"Mom, dad, what's going on here?" Janet asked from upstairs. She slowly walked down the stairs, her hand on the railing.

"That bastard attacked my daughter!" Mary shouted, pointing a finger at David. "Oh, my son is a bastard, huh?" Agatha hissed. "Well Brenda's a little twit who probably started it!"

"Hey, both kids are to blame here!" Bob said. "No, it's only Brenda, who obese tub!" Felix shouted, aiming a finger at Bob.

Screaming and arguing started to break out between the parents as insults were hurled in every direction. The arguing would have clearly ended in violence had Janet not spoken up.

"Mommy, daddy, didn't the Collins come for a play-date?" She reminded. The parents stopped arguing for a bit and stared at each other.

"Well David started it," Brenda muttered. "No, you did, you trout!" David shouted, and suddenly, the arguing started all over again. Janet face palmed.

At this point, Sam had left the room had saw the Barrets and the Collins arguing. He rolled his eyes, stunned at the immaturity of the two bickering family, but then his eyebrow raised as he got an idea.

"Wait a minute, if they're so engrossed in arguing, then they won't notice me leaving," He whispered to himself. With that, he sprinted down the stairs and right past Janet.

"S-Sam, what are you doing?" She asked. "Sorry, wacky, but I am out of here," Sam said, and he opened the door and took off outside.

"Wait, it's dangerous alone in the night!" Janet shouted, and without thinking, she took off towards the door, swung it open, and ran off outside after him.

"Hey, Janet, you know it's Brenda's fault, right?" David said, oblivious to her leaving. At that moment, he realized she was gone.

"J-Janet?" He whispered, and his parents stopped arguing, followed by the Collins. David then saw the open door.

"Oh my gosh," David whispered. "He bolted through the door and on the driveway. "Janet, where are you?!"

No answer.

"Janet, please come home!" He shouted out. But it was no use.

Sam and Janet had both vanished.


	9. The Alley

"This is all your fault!" Mary shouted at Agatha. "My fault?" Agatha gasped in disbelief. "MY FAULT?! My daughter has gone missing and you're going around blaming me?"

"Well she's your daughter so technically she's your responsibility, so yeah, it is kind of your fault," Bob said, standing as tall as he could in an attempt to look dignified.

"Hey, your daughter started this fight which distracted us from Janet running off," Felix said, "So it is actually YOUR fault."

"Oh yeah, go and blame the fat dude," Bob shot back, offended. "While meanwhile, your daughter is out in the dangerous city alone at night where she could potentially killed, abducted, or assaulted."

"Don't you dare even put those images in my head!" Agatha screamed. "However, I guess you would like to image that, wouldn't you?"

"W-What?" Bob asked. "Did you just imply that I like imagining kids getting killed, abducted and assaulted?"

"Oh, that's exactly what I'm implying," Agatha said. "How else do you think Brenda ended up the way she's like?"

Bob and Mary gasped in shock at the notion. "You're one to talk!" Mary shouted. "David's a cynic and Janet's a doormat! That doesn't seem like signs of good parenting!"

"Well Brenda's personality is worse!" Felix shouted. "She's-"

"Um, parents," David interrupted. "Shouldn't we be, I don't know, looking for Janet."

"In a moment son, we have deal with these hypocrites at the moment," Felix said, and he then turned towards Bob to continue the argument.

David groaned in dismay while Brenda face palmed. Brenda then whipped out a cell phone and started dialling in a number.

"What are you doing?" David asked. "I'm calling the police," Brenda said. "They should be able to deal with this."

David briefly smiled in relief until Brenda added, "Oh, and when this is all over, I'm going to be there to tell your sister what an idiot she is to leave her home so late."

David narrowed his eyes at Brenda before attempting to leave through the door. However, Agatha chose that instant to decide to see what David was doing and grabbed his arm.

"Oh, come on!" David protested. "I need to find my sister."

"No, David, you are not leaving our sight," Agatha said. "We are going to find her together!"

"Speaking of leaving your sight, we are out of here!" Bob said. "Come on Mary and Brenda, let's get out of here." He took Mary and Brenda by the arm and dragged them out of the house.

"Nice afternoon," Agatha said sarcastically. "Now, come on, let's go find our daughter." With that, the three left the house and went towards the car on the driveway.

…..

Janet wandered through the empty streets of Crystal City, shivering in the cold. It was raining lightly, and there was nobody else in sight at the moment.

"S-Sam?" Janet called out. She was met with silence. "Come on, you n-need to come back," She called out again. The only noise was the padding of rain on the ground.

Janet shivered. "Maybe I should just go back home," She whispered quietly to himself. However, as she glanced up, she saw a familiar figure walking on the street.

It was Sam.

"Sam, it's me!" Janet shouted. Sam spun around in disbelief, then he face palmed once he saw who it was.

"Janet, what are you doing here?!" Sam asked, frustrated. "You weren't supposed to follow me!"

"I couldn't just let you go by yourself, you being injured and all," Janet explained. "So I followed you here. You need to come back."

"Look, I'm more resilient to injuries than you," Sam said. "I'm totally okay." As if on cue, Sam then groaned in pain and rubbed his head.

"No, you're not," Janet reasoned. "You're hurt, and it's night time. It's dangerous in the night."

"If that's true," Sam said, turning around to leave. "Then why are you, an eight-year-old girl, out here?" With that, he vanished into a dark alley.

"Sam, please come back!" Janet shouted, exasperated. She raced off in the direction Sam had disappeared to. She stopped at a dark alley where Sam had been gone.

"Sam, where are you?" She asked. There appeared to be no trace of him.

A chill ran up Janet's spine. She had been told stories by her parents of people who had went into dark alleys and then disappeared, never to be found. David had rationalized it a just their parents trying to scare her, but now, she felt she was in genuine danger.

As she was about to find out soon, the danger was very, very genuine.

As Janet was about to back out of the alley, a trash can tipped over. "Sam?" Janet said hopefully, but then gasped at what she saw.

A large, black Doberman pinscher was standing behind the knocked over trash can. It stood nearly as tall as Janet, and his eyes were beat red. It was breathing heavily, and it's large canine teeth were visible.

As Janet looked closer, she saw that foam was pouring out of the dog's mouth.

The dog had rabies.

The Doberman growled furiously and started to advance towards the small girl, its claws scraping the ground. Janet backed away slowly.

"Um, help?" Janet whispered, hoping that some could hear her. The dog barked loudly and picked up speed. "Help, somebody!" Janet shouted as she backed away faster.

The dog raced forward, barking and snapping its jaws. Janet screamed and kicked a trashcan at the dog to distract it. The dog jumped back and Janet took the opportunity to run out of the alley.

However, the dog recovered quickly and raced out of the alley and sprinted after Janet, snapping its jaws crazily. Janet screamed out in a futile attempt to get help, but it was useless. Nobody heard her.

The dog briefly grabbed the back of Janet's shirt, but Janet twisted around, kicking the dog in the snout. The dog stumbled backwards and tore a hole in Janet's shirt.

Janet resumed running and raced to the door of a random house. Bashing her fists on the door, Janet shouted, "Please, help me! Oh please, help me!"

She twisted her head around to see the dog slowly advancing towards her and started thrashing her fists on the door more violently and started screaming even louder.

"HELP ME!" She screamed. However, the Doberman leapt towards her, knocking her on the pavement. Janet bashed her fists on the dog's snout as it started to drag her by her shirt towards the alley.

The moment they were in the alley, the dog tossed Janet into a wall. Janet's elbow smashed into the wall violently, and she screamed as she felt her right arm bend unevenly.

The dog hissed and surged forward as Janet collapsed on the ground, clutching her arm in agony. She struggled to pick herself up, but the pain in her right arm kept her from getting up. As she clutched her arm, she realized in horror that her arm had been broken from the collision in the wall.

The Doberman howled and tackled Janet.

"Someone, help me!" Janet screamed as she struggled to hold off the Doberman.

…..

Sam slowly trekked out from the city and into the surrounding forest. As he walked into the forest, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.

_I shouldn't of left Janet alone in the forest, _He thought. _She said it herself the city was dangerous at night. _

He stopped just a few feet from the forest. _And she doesn't have the same powers as me so she wouldn't be able to defend herself if-_

He heard Janet scream from the alley. "Janet?" He whispered in shock. He heard the scream continue, along with the sounds of a dog barking.

"Oh no, Janet!" Sam shouted, and he turned around and bolted back towards the city. As he heard the screaming continue, he jumped up and started hovering in the air and flew towards the sounds of the screams.

Flying up onto the roof of a building next to the alley, he looked down to see Janet being mauled by the Doberman.

The dog bit onto Janet's left arm and hung on tight. Janet kicked the dog in the leg in an attempt to get it off of her, but the dog continued to hang onto her arm.

Janet's eyes started to close as she began to lose energy. _Soon, I'll be unconscious, and then, it'll all be over, _She thought. _It'll all be over…._

"Hey, you!"

The dog let go of Janet's arm and looked up to see Sam standing at the trance to the alley. His hands were balled into fists, and he had a determined expression on his face.

"Come and fight me!" Sam challenged. "Sam, what are you doing here?!" Janet asked, horrified. "It will just kill you, too!"

The dog barked and charged forward, but Sam didn't falter. As the dog pounced, Sam side-stepped and dodged it. The dog spun around and snapped at Sam, but Sam swung his fist, striking the dog across the face, sending the dog flying into the wall.

Janet gasped in shock at his strength. No way could a little boy like him manage to knock that dog so far.

The dog recovered from the attack and glared at Sam, foam pouring from its jaws. It barked, and Sam took a fighting stance.

The dog howled and leapt towards Sam, and the boy drew his fist back. Then, as Janet watched in amazement, Sam's fist transformed into a bright blue blade.

Sam breathed heavily and stabbed the blade forward, piercing the dog in the stomach. Sam and Janet heard the dog yelp in pain, and it then collapsed on the ground, dead.

Sam analyzed the dead dog for a moment then rushed to Janet's side. She was one the ground, unconscious, both arms bloodied.

Sam picked her up and listened for a heartbeat. She was still alive, but she had lost some blood.

As Sam prepared to get Janet somewhere for help, a light flashed in his face. Sam turned to see two policemen in the alley, and several police cars driving up.

The first policeman flashed a light on the dead Doberman, then on the two children. The police didn't say a word, but walked forward, and Sam realized in dismay that he wouldn't be getting home anytime soon.


	10. The Hospital

Izzy and Brenda strolled down the sidewalk. Brenda was dressed in her regular clothing while Izzy was wearing a black jacket. It was raining, and Izzy was holding an umbrella to cover herself, leaving Brenda out in the rain.

"You think I'm going to get praise for calling the police that rescued Janet?" Brenda asked, spreading her arms out like a bird.

"The police rescued Janet?" Izzy asked, shrugging. "Brenda, you know it wasn't the police that extricated her from that dog. It was someone else."

"Well, who could it have been?" Brenda asked. "How should I know?" Izzy asked, pulling the umbrella closer over her head. "When I arrived there, they just explained that they discovered an unconscious Janet, the deceased dog, and some child who's name hasn't been revealed yet."

"Yeah, why were you out from your house?" Brenda asked. "Um, I wanted to pick up a Hershey bar," Izzy replied. Brenda splashed into a mud puddle, splashing some mud onto Izzy's jeans.

"Brenda, cut that out," Izzy demanded. Suddenly, a car drove by, splashing the whole puddle on both girls. "My jacket!" Izzy shouted as Brenda blew a raspberry at the drivers of the car.

Inside the car, David hugged himself, shivering nervously. During the drive to find Janet, they had received a call explaining what had happened. It had deeply troubled the family.

"Hey, there's the hospital Janet's at," Felix said, pointing at the massive hospital. The car stopped at the sidewalk and the three got out. Izzy and Brenda happened to walk past.

"What are you too doing here?" David asked, irritated.

"Relax, kid, we're just visiting your hospitalized sister," Izzy said. Before David could respond, the two scurried into the hospital. The three then noticed a bunch of other kids and adults entering the hospital as well.

"Yeesh, has my sister getting attacked by a dog really become so famous?" David pondered to himself as he and his parents pushed past the crowd and entered the house.

…..

"Would you like some hot chocolate, Ms. Barret?" A young girl asked Janet, who was lying in bed. She was the nurse's assistant, and had strawberry hair and henna-coloured eyes.

"Yes, I'd like that a lot," Janet nodded. The girl left.

Watching from behind a corner, Sam sighed, exasperated. He had been called to the hospital to be questioned, having been the nearest at the alley during Janet's attack from the Doberman, and he was being allowed to roam the hospital for a few minutes, but forbidden from leaving until his questioning was over.

"How did I get myself into this mess?" He asked himself repeatedly.

At that moment, the door burst open and several kids poured into the room, passing by Sam. Izzy and Brenda were the first to arrive, and Brenda glanced at Sam for a bit before ignoring him. Sam sighed with relief until David appeared.

"There you were," He said. "Where were you? Are you the reason why Janet left? Why did you leave when you were still injured from the truck?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "It is no concern of mine where I was during the time Janet was attacked by that rabid Doberman," He claimed.

"Wait, how do you know she was attacked by a Doberman?" David asked. Sam gulped and then took off before David could say another word.

"That's odd," David said before shrugging and turning to his sister, who was being crowded around by the other children.

"Hey, move over!" David shouted, shoving his way past the other kids. "Get out of here! I'm her brother so I get to talk to her!"

The other kids backed away as David took a seat next to Janet. "So, little sister, I see you have a new arm cast," He said, motioning to the pink cast on her right arm.

"Yeah, I broke my arm real good," Janet said, surprisingly cheerful after having been bitten by a rabid dog, breaking her arm, and being hospitalized.

"Would any of you like to write your signatures on it?" Janet asked the other kids. Izzy shrugged and took out a blue pen, scribbling her name on the cast in cursive. Brenda followed, taking out a pencil and writing her first name down.

As the other kids followed, David asked, "So, Janet, what were you doing out in the city alone?"

"Sam left while you were fighting with the Collins, so I followed him because he would probably get hurt," Janet explained. "Then I went into a dark alley, and met a mean dog that bit me and broke my arm, which is my it's in a cast."

"Well, how did you live?" David asked. "I was told it was a Doberman, and those things are very deadly."

"Sam saved me," Janet said. The other kids stopped writing on Janet's cast. Izzy stared at Janet, confused.

"Who's Sam?" Brenda asked after a while. "None of your freaking business!" David shouted, startling her. He then turned back to Janet and asked, "How did he do that?"

"His hand turned into a blade, and he ran the dog through," Janet explained. A boy sipping on a juice box spit out the drink. Brenda's jaw hit the floor. Izzy raised her eyebrow and rubbed her forehead as she struggled to comprehend what had been said.

"Um, do you think that rabies virus hasn't already messed with her brain?" Brenda asked.

By then, the nurse had arrived. "No, we gave her the rabies shots immediately, so she should be okay," She announced. David sighed with relief before Janet's words entered his mind.

"Um, if you excuse me, I'm going somewhere," He said and scooted out of the room.

"Eh, good riddance," Brenda called out.

…..

"So, what exactly happened?" A police officer asked Sam in an empty room of the hospital.

"I told you, the dog was attacking Janet," Sam said. "We know about that," The officer replied. "You just didn't tell us what happened afterwards."

"Well, I rushed to defend her of course, but the dog went after me and…" Sam trailed off.

"And what?" A second officer asked.

"…And the dog died of the virus before he could bite me, just like that," Sam lied. "That does sound kind of believable, except for one thing, "The officer responded.

"And what would that be?" Sam asked. "The dog had a stab wound which is confirmed to be the most likely cause of its demise," The officer explained.

Sam gulped and told another lie. "Yeah, well, I was holding a glass of water at the time, and when the dog pounced, I dropped the glass and it shattered, and a shard pierced the dog and THEN it died of the virus," He said.

"The stab wound was way bigger than any shard of glass could cause," The officer said.

Sam bit his lower lip nervously. He was running out of explanations. He was just about to give up and explain what really happened when the door was kicked open to reveal David.

"I need to talk to this kid for a moment," David said, "But we're in the middle of an investigation," The officer said.

"You are investigating an eight year old boy?" David said. "Shame on you, piling him with questions and traumatizing him! How dare you! He's just a boy!"

The two officers raised their hands up in defence and backed out of the room slowly. The moment they were gone, David sat down on the chair of one of the officer's.

"T-thanks for saving me," Sam grumbled. "Oh, you're not out of here yet," David said. "You are going to explain how you killed that Doberman and why Janet said you turned your hand into blade.

Sam sighed. "She's delusional," He said simply. "She was suffering from the virus and her broken arm and saw what she wanted to see."

"Okay, then, so I guess you can explain how the dog died?" David said. "From the virus," Sam said confidently. "And what about the stab wound?" David asked. "A shard of glass," Sam answered.

"You weren't holding a shard of glass when you left the house," David said. "And from what Janet said, you stabbed the dog. But you couldn't just smash the glass without getting pricked yourself."

Sam groaned. "Okay, okay, I'll explain," He said. "Janet was attacked by the Doberman, and I came, and using my awesome strength, I punched that dog in the face, and it went flying into a window, crashed on the ground, and the glass shards from the window fell down and stabbed into the dog. There, done, end of story."

David inhaled deeply. "Wow, Sam, that was a very thought out and detailed explanation," He said before adding. "That was totally made-up."

The two boys glared at each other for a moment before Sam said, "You know what, I am not under investigation from the likes of you. I am out of here." With that, he got up and took off out of the room.

David snorted and left the room to follow him. However, down the hallway, he noticed Janet and the other kids watching something.

Sprinting down the hallway, he saw that a television screen was on a stand, with _Fright Night _playing on the screen.

"Hi, David," Janet said. "Brenda suggested we watch a horror movie to keep me awake."

"I still think we should of watched a G-rated picture," Izzy said, hiding under the covers. David rolled his eyes. Izzy had a fear of ghosts and monsters, a phobia he could not understand.

"Do you want to watch the movie?" Janet asked. David considered it, but heard talking coming from above. "Um, in a moment," He said and took off down the hallways. He recognized that voice. It was Sam's.

He hurried up the stairs. Sam was clearly talking to somebody, but he could not hear the other voice.

"Why did you do it?" He heard the other voice said. "You said it yourself that you didn't like her, why did you save her?"

David reached the top of the stairs and pressed his ear against the door. He noticed that the other voice sounded a lot like Sam.

"I don't know, I guess I just felt compelled to do it," He heard Sam say. He sounded guilty and depressed.

"Mirror Bella wouldn't like it, you know," He heard the other voice say. The voice sounded so much like Sam that David came to the conclusion that Sam was just talking to himself.

David didn't really have much decency to knock on the door, so he instead swung it open to see what was happening. And what he saw amazed him.

Sam was talking to his reflection on the wall. Except the reflection didn't look natural. It resembled Sam, but had light blue skin and glowing blue hair and eyes. The reflection was wearing a blue shirt with a star on it, contrasting Sam's black and blue clothing.

Then the reflection pointed past Sam and at David. Slowly, Sam turned around and his eyes met David's. The two stared at each other in shock.

"Oh, hi David," Sam mumbled. "I, um, didn't see you there."

"Oh my gosh," David whispered in disbelief. "My parents, they were…right. you're a…_mirror person_."


	11. The Guest

"Son, so you are telling me that we were right about that kid being a mirror person?" Felix asked as he drove back to their house, along with Agatha, David and Sam.

"Yes, you were right," David grumbled, disappointed at having been proven wrong about mirror people being a myth.

"Wow, I can't believe this," Agatha said, joyful. "We finally got our son to see things from our point of view."

"Yeah, you here that, son, you were actually wrong about something," Felix taunted. David groaned in embarrassment. In spite of this, he folded his arms and raised his head high in an attempt to look dignified.

"So, can you drop me off back in the forest now?" Sam asked hopefully. Felix shook his head.

"Oh, come on, guys, do we really have to do this?" Sam asked, exasperated. "I just saved your daughter's life and you're still holding me hostage?"

"We're not holding you hostage, we're doing it for your own safety," Felix claimed. "How does that work?" Sam asked. "What do I have to be afraid of, except for you?"

"Well, there's the obvious, like criminals and wild animals lurking about," Agatha mentioned. "I killed a Doberman like it was a flea," Sam reminded. "I don't think I have to fear from it."

"On the other hand, now that little Janet has told the other kids that you have super powers, they're bound to start trying to find some proof about it," David said. "Especially Brenda and Izzy."

Sam groaned in annoyance. "Like I care about what Brenda thinks," He said. "She's too much of an idiot to do anything, even if she did find out I'm a mirror person."

"She's a crafty idiot," David said. "And besides, what about Izzy?"

Sam shrugged, but didn't give an answer. The car parked in the Barret's driveway, and the four got out.

"What a day, huh?" Felix mumbled as the family, along with Sam, walked over to the door. "Our kids have gone through their first day of school, we find a mirror person, Janet's hospitalized, what more could possibly happen?"

"A lot, if you really think about it," Agatha said as she swung the door open and walked inside.

"Now, David, you make our sort-of guest comfortable in this house during his stay," Felix commanded. David rolled his eyes and hauled Sam up the stairs to his room.

"You know, you didn't answer my question about Izzy," David said as he pushed Sam into his room. Sam rolled his eyes and plopped down on David's bed.

"She's okay, and she doesn't concern me like Brenda," Sam answered half-heartedly.

"Doesn't concern you?" David asked. "She's the most obnoxious person in school, even more than Brenda."

"Not everyone is as they seem, you know," Sam mumbled under his breath. "What did you say?" David asked. "Oh, nothing," Sam lied.

"Speaking of that, revert to your true form," David demanded. At that point, Sam was still in his disguise, with blonde hair, green eyes, and the pale complexion.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sam lied once more. "Quit playing around, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" David shouted, causing Sam's eyes to pop open in surprise.

"Alright, geez," Sam said, and his hair turned red, his skin turned terracottas, and his eyes turned light blue.

"That's not your true form," David hissed. Sam sighed and this time, his skin turned peach, his hair Venetian blonde, and his eyes hazel.

"Stop doing that!" David shouted. Now, Sam turned pink-skinned, his eyes green, and his hair light brown.

"Hey, those are my colours!" David shouted. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice," Sam mumbled. David glared at him, clearly losing patience, and Sam finally let in and transformed to his true form. His skin darkened, his eyes turned glowing blue, and his hair turned black with the mystic blue streak in it.

"There, are you happy?" The recently-transformed Sam asked. "That's more like it," David said, folding his arms.

David stared at the streak in his hair. "Why do you have that streak?" He asked. "I guess all mirror people have part of their hair blue," Sam said. "Or at least, that's what my sister told me."

"So, you have a sister," David clarified. "Two, actually, in a sense," Sam confessed. "And one brother."

"That reflection I saw, is that him?" David asked. Sam sighed and nodded.

"So, you're other sister is a reflection of your real sister," David concluded. "I like to think of both of them as my sister," Sam said.

"Do I know your sister?" David asked. "I'm not explaining anything else for the night, okay," Sam said, narrowing his eyes.

"Okay, okay, just asking," David mumbled.

Sam huffed and got into bed. "Hey, that's my bed," David said. "So what?" Sam asked, yawning as he rested on his pillow.

"You've been living in a forest, I don't want your germs or whatever all over my nice bed," David said, piqued.

Sam just shrugged before closing his eyes. "Hey, don't you ignore me!" David snapped. Sam's eyes fluttered open and he turned his head to David.

"Just go to bed," Sam said. "I can't, you just took it," David reminded. "Then go to sleep," Sam grumbled and his eyes closed again.

"But where?" David asked.

...

"Worst night ever," David grumbled as he lay on the floor with the lights shut off. The only sound was Sam's incredibly loud snoring.

David covered his ears to block out Sam's snoring, but it was no use.

"Can this week get any worse?" David grumbled to himself.


	12. Tuesday

David's alarm-clock rang, causing the boy to jump up from the floor.

"Almost forgot it was school," He mumbled, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He slammed his fist on the clock, shutting it off.

Throwing off his bed clothes and putting on a simple red t-shirt and green shorts, David noticed that the bed Sam had been sleeping in last night was empty. The bed covers were lying on the floor and the pillows had dry drool on it.

David groaned in annoyance. "I wonder if he went back to his home in the forest," He said, hopefully. Alas, he heard thudding coming from downstairs and the sound of glass and objects being moved around.

With a sigh, David trudged through the already-open door and down the stairs. He could hear Sam humming from downstairs.

After David reached the bottom of the stairs, he entered the kitchen room to see Sam floating off the ground in front of an open cupboard. David noticed that he was rearranging the several cups in the board.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Organizing the cups," Sam replied without bothering to turn and acknowledge the other boy. "I'm putting the black and blue cups on the right and the less-important cups on the left."

"Is that really necessary?" David asked. "Well, at my house, my sister put the black cups on the right and the blue on the left, but since this house has these dainty white ones, I feel compelled to change the arrangements a bit," Sam responded.

David grumbled. "You know, if you're going to stay here, then-"

David stopped short when he suddenly realized something about Sam's clothing.

"You're wearing my clothes!" David shouted. Sam was wearing David's black shirt with the picture of a baseball player on the front, as well as one of David's regular blue jeans. They were clearly too big for him, though, but Sam didn't seem to notice.

"I would've picked Janet's clothes because they fit me, but they're mainly pink and purple, and I don't do those clothes.," Sam said.

"Because they're too girly?" David asked. "Not really," Sam replied. "I also don't do green, yellow, orange, cyan, magenta, or brown."

"You must not have a lot of clothes then," David smirked. "Listen, Davey Jones, the only colours I dress in are black, blue, and sometimes red," Sam snapped, finally turning around to face him.

"Well, black is actually a shade, not a colour," David corrected. Sam stared at him with a blank expression. "What the dimension did you just say?" He asked.

David shrugged. Before the two could say anything else, their parents arrived.

"Oh, I see you're ready to go to school," Agatha said, smiling. David spun around. "No I'm not!" He shouted. "I hate school! It's terrible! I nearly went insane last time!"

"Oh, come on, it's only seven hours long," Felix said. "That's the problem, it's seven hours TOO LONG!" David screamed.

"What a drama queen," Sam whispered, rolling his eyes while still hovering a few feet off the ground.

"David, I'm sure you can handle four more days of school for the week," Agatha said, and she grabbed David by the collar. "And I don't want your teacher waiting for you." With that, she dragged David kicking and screaming towards the door.

"Am I going to school?" Sam asked hopefully. "Not a chance," Felix stated. "You're staying here so me and honey can see all your powers."

Sam's eye twitched. "So that's what I'm here for, a bloody experiment," He growled. "Not really, we'll let you go when we see all you powers," Felix said, grinning innocently.

Sam narrowed his eyes. "Like that's any better," He said through gritted teeth.

…..

David and Agatha drove up to the Crystal City Independent School District. "Now, behave son," Agatha said as she pulled David out of the car and towards the school.

The other children were already pouring into the school. David would've used the opportunity to take off running, but he glanced towards his mother. She was staring down at him with a look that told him not to try anything funny. So, David reluctantly followed the other children inside.

The school seemed more crowded than usual. He noticed several children he hadn't seen before entering his classroom. Izzy was in the front, but he couldn't see Brenda.

David followed the children inside. He could recognize several kids in his class from yesterday, including a small brunette girl, a diminutive boy with glasses, and off course, Izzy.

With a sigh, David sat down in front of Izzy. The teacher, oddly enough, hadn't arrived yet, so the kids were making small talk with each other. David kept quiet, hoping not to attract any attention from the other children, least of all Izzy.

Too bad for him, this wouldn't be the case. An Indian boy turned around and said, "Hello, David."

David wasn't one to be very polite with kids he didn't know very well. "Screw you!" David shouted, startling several kids. "You think I was talking to you?!"

"Okay, okay," The boy mumbled. "Yeah, that's what I thought!" David hissed before turning away. Izzy immediately jabbed him with her ruler.

"Will you lay off?" He asked.

The older girl scooted closer towards him. "I hear whippersnappers with your attitude likely end up as criminals when they're older," She whispered in his ear with a smirk.

David shoved his hand in Izzy's face, pushing her away. "Like the same doesn't apply to you?" He asked. "You are five times as horribly, missy."

Izzy whacked him with her ruler. "Stop it!" David shouted. He then noticed that Brenda wasn't in the class. "Where's Ms. Collins?" He asked.

"She skipped school," Izzy replied bluntly. "Why'd she do that?" David asked. "I don't know, she said she wanted a word with someone, but she didn't say who?"

Before David could reply, Mrs. Worthington burst in. "Well class, are you ready to talk about the importance of the environment?" She asked.

David groaned. "At least Benda's not here," He mumbled.

…..

"Okay, I want you to levitate this hammer off the table," Felix ordered. Sam sighed. "I don't have telekinesis, Mr. Barret," He said. "Then how do you move things without touching them?" Felix asked.

"I have these…I don't know how to describe it," Sam mumbled. Deciding to show them instead of tell them, Sam's transparent hand shot out from his back, grabbed the hammer, and hoisted it up over Felix's head.

"Amazing!" Felix shouted as Sam dropped the hammer in the toolbox with his third hand. "How many of those do you have? A million? A quadrillion?"

"Just two," Sam mumbled. "Uh-huh," Felix said, obviously disappointed. "Well, I have a new test. Now I want you to-"

"Um, Felix, can I have a moment outside?" Sam asked. "I promise I won't run away."

Felix stared at him suspiciously, but then nodded. Instantly, Sam jumped up, flew towards the door, swung it open, and ran through.

"Man, that guy's a creep," Sam whispered. He hadn't even gotten on the driveway when he was shoved into a wall.

"Ow, what the heck?!" Sam shouted as he clutched his bruised arm. He glanced to whoever had pushed him and saw Brenda. She was wearing a red shirt and a black skirt, and her arms were folded across her chest.

"What is your problem?!" Sam shouted. Brenda shoved him into the wall again. "Don't get all cheeky on me!" She shouted. "There was something strange going on with Janet last night, and it had to do with you!"

"Look, I have no idea what you're-" Sam started but Brenda grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall a third time.

"She said you turned your hand into a blade and stabbed that dog to death," Brenda hissed. "Almost like a mirror person. But I don't believe you're a mirror person!"

_That's a relief, _Sam thought to himself, but Brenda tightened the grip on his neck.

"You listen to me, boy!" She shouted. "I don't know what happened in that alley, but you definitely did not rescue Janet from that dog! You're much too pathetic to do that!"

Brenda finally let Sam go, and he crumpled to the ground, gasping for air.

"There are mirror people in this city, Woodstump!" Brenda snapped. "And I intend to find out who they are! And I am NOT letting you jeopardize my rookie investigation for them! UNDERSTAND ME?!"

Sam didn't answer. All he did was cough violently on the ground. Brenda snorted and got on her scooter and rode off the driveway and down the street, leaving Sam on the ground crying and hyperventilating.


	13. Friendship Commences

Sam lied on the ground, dizzy. He felt light-headed and his arm and head were bruised. His neck was aching and tears were streaming down his face as he breathed heavily.

He would have gotten up already, but the weight of humiliation had somehow kept him down. How could he have allowed Brenda to hurt him so easily? He's stronger than she is and he's gone through much worse than getting slammed into a wall.

Sighing, Sam slowly got to his feet, making an effort to ignore the pain in his head. Wiping the tears from his face, he pulled the door to the Barrets house open and limped inside.

"Oh, you're back-" Felix started until he saw Sam's bruised arm and neck. "What happened to you?" He asked.

"I, uh, well I…" Sam mumbled, thinking up an excuse. He didn't want to admit that Brenda had been responsible, so he eventually said, "I tripped and fell on the pavement."

"Really?" Felix asked. "That must have been one real fall then."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I took a real hard…fall."

"Well, there's still that test I wanted you to do," Felix said, but Sam took off upstairs, covering his face in embarrassment. "Well, that was awkward," Felix said.

Sam swung the door open to David's room and crept inside, slamming the door shut. The moment he did so, a crack formed in the wall and door. Sam glanced up at the cracked wall and cringed before looking down at his hands, then back at the wall.

Walking backwards, he bumped into a bookshelf lightly. Instantly, the bookshelf toppled over and smashed into pieces, with several books flying all over the room.

Sam gasped and covered his face to shield himself from the splinters and books flying in his directions. Eventually, he just collapsed into a corner of the room.

He rubbed the bruise on his arm tenderly, then put a finger on his neck and then touched the bump on his head. And then, finally, he pulled up the sleeve of his arm to reveal an injury he had not received from Brenda.

It was a dim blue bruise on his shoulder. Sam stared at the old wound sadly, then pulled himself into a fetal position and let the tears stream down his cheeks.

…..

"Mom, are you sure I can't go to school?" Janet asked from the backseat of Agatha's care.

Agatha shook her head. "No way," She said. "You may have survived that dog attack thanks to Sam, but you are nowhere near in the right shape to go back to school due to your broken arm."

Janet sighed. "But I feel great!" She protested. "My arm may be in a cast but I can manage."

"No," Agatha refused. "Besides, that mirror child is at home, so you can play with him and spend the time studying his powers."

"Sam, his name is Sam," Janet corrected. "Whatever," Agatha said. "And besides, we're home, sweet home."

They parked into the driveway and instantly, Janet burst through the door with her left arm and skipped towards the door of the house, followed by Agatha.

"Dad, I'm finally home!" Janet shouted as he kicked open the door.

"Janet!" Felix said joyfully and embraced Janet. Agatha joined in with the group hug. "Where's David?" She asked.

"Still at school," Felix said. "It's 10:36 A.M."

"Oh, I lost track of time," Janet mumbled, a little embarrassed. "Well, where's Sam?"

"He fell on the pavement and is upstairs by now," Felix said. "You'd think he'd be more resilient to pain, though, since he is a mirror person."

"Dad, he's an eight year old boy," Janet reminded. "And I'm going to go see him." She released her parents and walked up the stairs.

"Um, Janet, are you sure you want to see him?" Felix asked. "He seemed to be in a bad mood when I saw him."

"If there's something I've seen in movies, it's that everyone has a good side to them," Janet said before sprinting upstairs.

"Um, Sam?" She asked. She couldn't hear anything. It was surprisingly quiet for a mirror person to be upstairs.

Janet took a guess as to which house he was in and opened the door to David's room. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the huge mess and the giant bookshelf smashed into pieces.

"Sam, what did you do?" She asked. She couldn't see him. It was like he had vanished. However, he could hear breathing coming from the ceiling. Glancing upwards, Janet saw Sam, floating in a corner of the ceiling and pulled into a fetal position.

"Sam!" Janet said cheerfully. Sam opened his eyes and lifted his head a bit from over his knees, but upon seeing Janet, he turned his head away.

"I'm back from the hospital now," Janet said, hoping to get a response. Sam didn't bother to say a thing and instead floated towards another corner of the room.

"Sam, please talk to me," Janet said and ran over to Sam. Instantly, Sam's eyes popped open in surprise when he saw Janet race towards him and he quickly zipped to the left in an effort to avoid her.

"Wait, Sam, wait!" Janet shouted as she continued following him around the room. "I don't want to hurt you!"

She grabbed Sam's arm, causing him to stop. Slowly, she pulled him down onto the bed. Janet stared into Sam's eyes as he held his hand.

"I don't want to hurt you," She whispered. Sam narrowed his eyes and pulled his hand away. "Like someone without powers could actually hurt me," He said, trying to sound stoic. However, he covered his bruised arm.

"You sure seemed scared," Janet said. Sam sighed a bit. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "Are you here to study me because of my powers like your parents?"

"I guess they're intriguing," Janet admitted. Sam stood up on the bed. "Yeah, nothing I've heard before!" He shouted. "That's the only thing people think of me except for my siblings!"

"Sam, what are you talking about?" Janet asked.

"My sister tells me of people like you!" Sam exclaimed angrily. "How whenever someone is different, everyone hates them."

"That's not always true," Janet said. "But a lot of the time, they are!" Sam shouted. "My sister picks up movies and shows me them, and they have that premise. ParaNorman, boy and girl speak to the dead, the boy is hated by even his family, and the girl is murdered!"

"But didn't it say some people are good in the long run?" Janet said.

"Beauty and the Beast, some villagers follow some bozo and tries to kill the big furry dude, who at the end turns all handsome, proving that you can only have a happy ending if you're handsome!"

"I didn't find him that handsome…"

"Garbage Pail Kids, there's a freaking State Home For The Ugly!"

"That was a stupid movie, anyways," Janet said.

"And-"

"Sam, slow down," Janet ordered. Sam reluctantly quieted down.

"Those are movies," Janet explained. "That are based on real human reactions," Sam countered. "Well, Sam, they are based on real human reactions, and do you know what every movie you mentioned had in it?" Janet asked.

"A villain that the movie says is good-looking but really isn't?" Sam guessed.

"Well, yeah, but something else," Janet said. "In all of those movies, it that a person who befriended those odd-people-out despite their appearance or their gifts."

Sam stared at Janet, but then shuffled away. "And what should that mean?" He asked. "The bad people in all those movies always outnumbered the good."

"Well, maybe that's one error they had," Janet said, and then she noticed the bruise on his arm. "What happened there?"

"Br-somebody pushed me into a wall," Sam admitted. He didn't want to give the identity to avoid a confrontation between Janet and Brenda.

"Oh, well I know how to fix that," Janet said. She left the room briefly, and quickly returned with a band-aid.

"What's that supposed to be?" Sam asked.

"This is a band-aid," Janet explained. "It will protect the bruise."

"Thank you, but I don't think I need it," Sam said. Nevertheless, Janet placed the band-aid on Sam's bruised arm. Sam rubbed it a bit.

"Well, what do you think?" Janet asked.

"It, uh, it feels great," Sam admitted, smiling. He then noticed the several signatures on Janet's arm cast and got an idea.

Taking a blue marker from David's shelf, he wrote his own signature on the arm cast.

Samson Crystal.

Janet stared down at the signature on her cast. "Samson Crystal," She read. "I actually think that's a very nice name."

She smiled, and Sam did as well.


	14. After School

David was walking down the neighbourhood after school had ended. He was still feeling sore after spending the day being irritated by Izzy, but school was over for the day, so he found some joy in that.

"Hey, loser!" A voice called out. It was Izzy. She was on her roller-blades, and was skating around him. He noticed that Brenda was with her, too.

"Oh, come on, it's after school, can't I have some peace?" David complained.

"Our next play-date is in three days, Davey," Brenda reminded. "And since Little Jane got a sprain, I guess you could use something to occupy your short attention span."

"Janet didn't sprain herself, she broke her arm," David corrected. Izzy flicked him with her index finger. It stung more than a flick usually would, and it caused David to jump a bit.

"Don't get all smart on us," Izzy said. "You and Janet may act like you know so much about mirror people, but until you've actually found one, you're both still losers to me."

David clenched his knuckles. He wanted to punch Izzy so badly, but he was outnumbered by two, so he knew acting violent wasn't going to solve anything for him. So he just hurried away, hoping the two girls wouldn't follow him.

"Aw, are you going to cry, Davey?" Izzy called out, and she and Brenda laughed before skating off.

David finally reached his house. With a groan, he pulled the door open and walked inside.

"Hey son, how was school?" Agatha asked. David didn't even bother to acknowledge his parents and just gloomily walked up the stairs to his room.

As he did so, he heard talking coming from Janet's room.

"So, I can transform my hand into various objects," He heard Sam say. "Awesome!" He heard Janet reply.

Intrigued, David opened the door a bit and saw Sam and Janet sitting on the bed. Sam's hand was transformed into a sparkling blue mallet, and he swung it over his head a bit.

David raised his eyebrow in confusion as he continued to watch.

"Hey, do the blade!" Janet urged. "The one you used to kill that dog!"

"No problem," Sam said, and his hand transformed into a large blue blade. David's jaw hit the floor at the sight of it.

"It looks so sharp," Janet said and briefly poked the blade, then jumped a bit as she pricked her finger on it. "It IS sharp," She added as she held her finger.

"Yeah, I've sometimes cut myself practicing using it," Sam admitted, smiling in embarrassment. "Oh, this is my favourite one," He added, and his hand transformed to normal. He cupped both hands together, and a small blue flame appeared above it.

Janet jumped back in shock. David's eyes widened and he swung the door open, alerting Sam and Janet to his presence.

"What is that?!" David asked in horror.

"It's fire," Sam said, a little confused as to why David would ask such a ridiculous question.

"Well make it go away before you hurt somebody!" David demanded. "Okay, okay," Sam mumbled and he tossed the blue flame behind him. The ball of fire landed on one of Janet's Barbie dolls, which exploded instantly upon contact with the flame.

"Oh shoot, sorry about that!" Sam apologized as Janet and David stared at him.

"Oh, don't worry, I have about a dozen others," Janet replied. "Boy do you need a hobby," Sam mumbled. "What was that?" Janet asked. "Nothing," Sam lied.

"I told you to make it go away, not burn something with it," David berated.

"I would have, but my sisters haven't really taught me to control my powers that much," Sam confessed. "I can control the basics, like landing properly after flying or transforming my hand into objects and back, but other than that, I don't have that much of a clue."

"You'd think they'd worry a little more about controlling a walking death-machine," David mumbled.

"Hey, I may have the power to annihilate you in a second, but that does not make me a walking death-machine," Sam responded, irritated.

"Hey, maybe I could help control your powers," Janet offered. Sam and David glared at her.

"Um, Janet, you may be my friend now, but I doubt a human girl with little to no experience can actually help a mirror person control their powers," Sam scoffed.

"Yeah, for once I agree with Sam," David huffed.

"Well, I guess we'll see about that," Janet said, folding her arms. She then added, "Oh, and I'm skipping school tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time to work on it."

"OH COME ON!" David shouted. "Does everyone get to skip school but me?!"

"Looks like it," Sam said. "Oh well, I bet you can handle three more days of school."

"No I can't!" David shouted. "With people like Izzy and Brenda in my class, I'd rather die than spend another three days there!" With that, he stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Um, Sam," Janet said.

"Yes, Janet?" Sam asked.

"You said you had sisters?" Janet asked. Sam nodded.

"Do you think they're worried about you?" Janet asked.

Sam shrugged. "Oh them," He said. "Don't worry. They're my sisters. I'm sure they won't overreact about me being gone for a little while."

…..

Inside the concealed mirror, in a dimly lit room two figures were talking.

"Mirror Bella, don't you think you're overreacting to this a bit?" The first figure, resembling a small boy, said. He was met with a small shove.

"No, I'm not overreacting!" The other figure claimed, her eyes glowing a bright blue shade. "Those non-powered freaks of Crystal City have been getting on my nerves for years, and now they've gone and abducted Samson."

"Please, I'm sure Sam is fine," The first figure reassured. "He has powers, he can handle himself with them."

"I don't like it, not one bit," The second figure said, folding her arms. She then shouted, "Kizzy! Get over here this instant!"

The pale brunette entered the room. "Yes, Mirror Bella?" She asked.

"Go out to the neighbourhood and search out the houses," The figure ordered, her eyes sparkling blue. "Samson has got to be out there somewhere."

"Yes, Mirror Bella," Kizzy said, and she vanished into thin air.

"I'm not letting Samson get away from me," The figure snapped, and with a swish of her gown, she had disappeared as well.


	15. The Bulldog

It was Wednesday, and David had been quite literally dragged off to school once more. Janet was staying home with Sam due to her arm injury, leaving David to fend for himself at school.

"I can't believe my sister was lucky enough to stay at home," David grumbled to himself as he walked onto school property.

"Why couldn't I be attacked by a dog and have my arm broken?" He complained. "I mean, I've been the butt of a lot of unfortunate incidents, why not this one?"

He sighed and sat down on a rock. At that point, he noticed Izzy and Brenda passing by, talking about something. David wasn't usually one to eavesdrop on what other children were saying, least of all the most obnoxious kids at school, but he felt intrigued when he word what they were saying.

"Did you hear about Malady?" Brenda asked. "She said that last night, she was in her room, trying to sleep, when she thought she saw a glowing blue apparition passing around the bed."

David raised an eyebrow and he got off the rock and started following the girls to listen closely to what they were saying.

"Oh, Malady's always one to see things," Izzy said, rolling her eyes. "She probably just thought she saw her own shadow and freaked out."

"Her shadow was blue?" Brenda said. "It's possible," Izzy said.

David squinted his eyes a bit in confusion. The way the supposed apparition was described was beginning to bare similarity to the girl he found on the road two days earlier.

"And Jonathan, that kindergartener, he says he saw the same thing," Brenda claimed. "He was sleeping with his face under the bed covers and he saw a bright blue light resembling a girl in his room."

"Are we really supposed to take that kid seriously?" Izzy asked. "I mean, he's in kindergarten, they always see things."

"That sounds just like what me and Janet saw," David said. Unfortunately for him, Izzy heard that and spun around, noticing him.

"What are you staring at?!" She shouted, and David immediately turned his face away from her, whistling, before walking off, embarrassed.

Izzy then turned back to Brenda. "What I'm saying is, those kids shouldn't be taken seriously, Brenda."

Before Brenda could respond, a blonde girl wearing blue clothing butted in between the two girls.

"Hi guys," She said with a smile.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting your name," Brenda admitted. "I'm Lizzy, Izzy's best friend," The girl introduced.

Brenda glared at her. "No, I'm Izzy's best friend," She hissed, grabbing Izzy's arm. "No, I am," Lizzy insisted.

"Look, both of you are my friends, okay," Izzy said to avoid a full-blown confrontation. "Lizzy, why don't you find some fourth graders to pick on?"

"Sure thing," Lizzy said and skipped away. The moment she was gone, Brenda said, "That girls annoys me. But anyways, the apparitions."

"I thought I made it clear that we shouldn't think too much of it," Izzy said. "No really, it can't be a coincidence," Brenda insisted. "If two kids from the same neighbourhood saw the same thing, that means it's real."

"What are you suggesting?" Izzy asked. "Maybe they saw a mirror person," Brenda said.

"That's ridiculous," Izzy replied. "Mirror people wouldn't go and spy on people like that unless it was important. And that doesn't sound important."

"Well, this girl with pony-tails said something about mirror people," Brenda said. "And I think she knows more about them."

…..

"Sam, why are you leading me to this part of the neighbourhood?" Janet asked nervously as Sam held her hand, pulling her down the sidewalk.

"You were nearly killed by a dog, right?" Sam said. "You were there," Janet reminded. "Are you scared of dogs?" Sam asked. Janet nodded.

"Well, I think it's time for you to face your fear," Sam said. They stopped near the fence of a relatively big house. Inside the fence was a small black-and-white French bulldog, sitting on the grass.

"Sam, that dog scares me," Janet said. "Exactly, which is why I want you to face your fear," Sam said, dragging Janet towards the fence.

The bulldog got up, smelling the two children. It turned around and stared at them for a moment. As the two children neared, the dog let out a small bark, warning them not to get any closer.

Janet recoiled, but Sam held her hand and led her towards the fence. The bulldog began barking again, a little more frantic this time. Janet shook with fear.

"Nice and easy," Sam said as he and Janet began to walk past the fence. The bulldog ran up towards them, barking excitedly. At that point, Janet nearly bolted in the opposite direction, but Sam held onto her.

"No worries, we can do this," Sam said, and he and Janet walked past the fence. With each step, the bulldog pursued them from inside the fence, barking as it attempted to frighten them away.

Janet began squeezing Sam's hand in fear, but kept a steady stride with him. Eventually, the two had made it past the fence. From inside the fence, the bulldog huffed before turning around and walking off.

"Why did you put me through that?" Janet asked. "It could've bitten me or something."

"Actually, it couldn't have," Sam said. Janet raised an eyebrow.

"It may look dangerous, but it's inside a fence," Sam explained. "That's what separates us from it. It can't attack us because it's concealed inside."

"Yeah, but it's still scary," Janet mumbled. "Sometimes we fear things even if they can't do us harm," Sam explained. "My brother taught me that philosophy."

"He sounds pretty smart," Janet said. "You have no idea," Sam said. Then, Sam happened to glance up at the roof of a house and saw a cat sitting on it. It had black fur and blue eyes, and was staring at Sam. The cat beckoned its head to him and then disappeared from off the roof.

"Um, Janet, could you wait here for a moment, I need to attend to something," Sam said. Janet nodded and Sam raced off in the direction the cat had left.

The moment he was gone, Janet felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She spun around to see who it was.

"Brenda, what are you doing here?" She asked when she saw the girl skating around her on rollerblades. "Isn't it the middle of school?"

Brenda paused in front of the younger girl. "We need to talk," She said.


	16. Popular

Sam trekked down the sidewalk in the direction the cat had disappeared to. He saw the cat concealed behind a bush in the forest and raced over to the forest.

"Ballard, come out," Sam said. The black cat crawled out from the bush and rubbed its body against Sam's legs, purring, before sitting down in front of him.

"Ballard, what are you doing here?" Sam asked. Ballard purred slightly in response.

"Okay, I guess that was a pretty stupid question," Sam admitted. "But still, you're supposed to be in the mirror."

Ballard meowed as a reply.

"What do you mean I'm supposed to be in the mirror?" Sam said, acting like he'd forgotten that he'd been absent from the mirror for at least two days.

Ballard meowed and then purred.

"I was with the Barrets," Sam responded. "They seem like a nice family when they're not talking about my powers…"

Ballard hissed, causing Sam to back up a bit.

"Hey, I didn't intentionally reveal my powers to them…" Sam said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Janet just saw me using them and David saw me talking to Mirror Samson and…"

Ballard hissed once more.

"Hey, I want to go back home, but, well…" Sam trailed off. Ballard brought his head closer to Sam, waiting for an answer.

"I just want to stay with them!" Sam finished. Ballard rolled his blue eyes and meowed.

"I know it sounds lame, but I feel I need to help them," Sam confessed. "And that they could help me. I know it's only been about two days, but bare with me here."

Ballard shook his head in disappointment and purred.

"Fine, I don't care if you don't like it, just don't tell Bella or Mirror Bella," Sam ordered. "They'll explode if they find out about this."

Ballard scoffed and then slunk off into the forest and vanished without a trace. When he was certain the cat was gone, Sam bolted out of the forest and towards the fence where Janet was.

"Okay, Janet, I'm back and-" Sam paused when he saw that Janet wasn't there.

"Um, Janet?" He asked.

…..

"So, how's your big brother?" Brenda asked as she and Janet walked down the sidewalk of the city.

"Oh, he's okay," Janet replied. "I mean, he's not happy about going to school, but at least he didn't break his arm like I did."

"Yeah, I don't get why he doesn't like school," Brenda said. "It's one of the best places you could be, isn't it, Jane?"

"Wait, didn't you skip school?" Janet asked. "Well, sometimes school isn't important," Brenda replied casually.

The two girls entered a clothing shop. "You know, Janet, I've noticed that you don't have a lot of friends," Brenda said. "It's pretty sad, really."

"Oh, well it's not like that's a bad thing," Janet replied. Brenda picked out a few clothes.

"Oh, but it is a bad thing, Little Jane," Brenda responded without batting an eye. "What do you mean?" Janet asked nervously.

"You see, when you grow older, you find that friendship seems to be the glue holding society together," Brenda explained. "The more friends you have, the more popular you are."

"But what if popular isn't always the right thing?" Janet inquired. "Well, what is the right thing at the moment?" Brenda replied.

Janet didn't respond.

"You see, when you don't have friends, what does that say about you?" Brenda asked. Janet shrugged and shook her head.

"It means you're an outcast," She whispered in Janet's ear. Janet froze at the mention of it.

"When you have no friends, you're reduced to sitting in the dark corner behind all the other boys and girls," Brenda continued. "Nobody will notice you or like you."

"But I want to be liked," Janet said.

"And it will only get worse," Brenda said. "Then high school comes along, and popularity is the number one thing there. When you're not popular in high school, people will notice you."

"How is that worse?" Janet asked.

"They'll notice you by picking on you," Brenda said. "They'll tease you, write things on your locker, hit you…"

"No, I don't to get hit," Janet mumbled nervously.

"They'll get others to join in and make you miserable," Brenda said. Janet began biting her nails out of anxiety.

"And you'll have nobody to turn to," Brenda said. Janet sighed. "Well, how do I stop it?" She asked. "How do I get friends?"

"Oh, there's one way," Brenda said. "Try acting like the other kids."

Janet raised an eyebrow. "But my parents told me that you have to be unique," She said. "It's what makes you special."

Brenda shook her head. "Are you really going to listen to your parents your whole life?" She asked. "Are you a 'momma's girl'?"

"I am not a momma's girl!" Janet exclaimed, somewhat angry. "I don't have to listen to my parents to make up my mind."

Brenda smiled. "Very good, Little Jane," She said. "Well then, what do you suggest I do?" Janet asked.

"That's simple," Brenda said, holding up some fancy clothing. "Wear these."

Janet squinted her eyes. "Those things?" She asked. "What's so special about them?"

"It doesn't have to be special to be good," Brenda said. Janet shrugged and reached out to grab it, but Brenda held the clothes up in the air.

"Uh, uh, uh," Brenda said. "You owe me something,"

"What could I possibly owe you?" Janet asked. Brenda bent down and whispered in Janet's ear. Janet's eyes widened in shock.

"But, that's, uh…" Janet trailed off. "That's what?" Brenda asked. "Are you hiding something?"

"Definitely not," Janet lied. Brenda narrowed her eyes. "You're lying to me," She said. Janet shook her head.

"Oh, I know you're lying," Brenda said. "So, you're going to lie to the girl who wants to help you be popular?"

"No, I don't," Janet said uneasily.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Brenda asked. "You'll help me, and I'll help you. What's it going to be?"

Janet gulped. She suddenly realized how hard life was going to be.

…..

David had finally returned home after another tiresome day of school. He smiled as he swung the door open, only to be met with Sam pacing around the house.

"Um, where's Janet?" He asked. "I don't know," Sam said. "I told her to stay at the sidewalk while I went to do something, but when I came back, she was gone."

David narrowed his eyes.

"You brought my injured sister outside and left her like an old pair of shoes?" He questioned angrily. "What if she was kidnapped, or assaulted, or-"

"Hi guys," Janet said as she entered the house. David sighed with relief when he heard her familiar voice. However, his gladness turned to horror when he saw what she was wearing.

"What the-" David gasped. He then called out, "Mom! Dad! Get over here!"

Felix and Agatha came into the living room.

"What is it, son?" Agatha asked when she saw what Janet was wearing as well. "What the hell?" She asked. Felix covered his eyes as he saw what his daughter was wearing.

Janet was dressed in a rather big jacket and a very revealing shirt. She was wearing extremely short shorts that was a solid foot above her knees.

"Do you like them?" Janet asked cheerfully. "They were bought at the clothing shop."

David and his parents mouths hung open in shock, and then, in an instant, they all lunged at Janet and grabbed her shirt.

Soon, Janet's new clothes had been dumped in the garbage can and she was wearing her pink pyjamas. "Oh, come on, I didn't think they were that bad," Janet complained.

"Oh, they were bad!" Agatha snapped. "Those are something a teenager or something would wear!"

"Hey, Br- the girl said it would help me fit in," Janet said. She didn't want to tell them who it was for fear of what they would put Brenda through.

"What girl?" Felix asked. "I, uh, I can't say," Janet said, looking at her feet in discomfort.

"Young lady, you are grounded," Felix said. "We are very disappointed in you!" With that, Agatha and Felix stomped out of the room and slammed the door, leaving David, Sam, and Janet.

"It was Brenda, wasn't it," David said. "How did you know?" Janet asked. "Who else would dress you like a hooker?" David asked.

"Those are not hooker clothes," Janet argued. "And besides, a lot of girls dress like that."

"Girls OLDER than you!" David snapped. "You're eight, you're not supposed to dress like that? Why would she dress you in that?"

"She wanted to help me," Janet said. David and Sam stared at her.

"Help you?" He asked. "She would never help you unless she wanted to help herself in some way." Then, both boys gasped.

"Did she ask you anything?" Sam said nervously. "Well, maybe one question," Janet said. "What was it?" Sam asked, grabbing Janet's shoulders.

Janet didn't respond.

"Oh no, she didn't…" Sam said. Janet gulped as realization dawned upon her.

"She asked you how to identify a mirror person?" David asked, knowing that was the answer. Janet sighed, but didn't respond to either boys.

"She said she wanted to help me," Janet repeated, plopping down on bed. "I didn't know…"

"Brenda would never help you," Sam said, wracked with disappointment. "How could you fall for her lies like that?"

Janet turned her face to the other side of the bed and covered her eyes, filled with humiliation and despair. Suddenly, she realized how much of a fool she had been to trust her.


	17. Forest Confrontation

Janet spent the rest of the day in her bed well into the night, bitter at having been fooled so easily by Brenda. She and Sam hadn't talked to each other at all since Janet revealed what happened at the store.

Sam was sleeping in the bed next to Janet, the covers pulled over his bed. Janet was wide awake, her head on the pillow. She stared at the clock next to her.

It was 7:16. School started at 8:30.

Janet sighed as she thought she should probably wake up Sam to tell her she would have to leave soon. However, as her head began to be taken off the pillow, she suddenly felt chilly.

Janet was perplexed. She didn't have the fan on, and all the windows were closed, so there was no reason as to why she felt so cold.

_Maybe Sam's causing it, _Janet reasoned with herself, _Maybe it's a side-effect of his powers._

However, she suddenly remembered that Sam had never shown that side-effect, so he clearly wasn't causing it. Then, Janet noticed something else.

There was a light blue mist forming on the ground. Instantly, Janet threw the blanket covers on her and Sam, attempting to shield the two of them from the mysterious mist.

She shivered as the cold became more prominent through the covers. She shut her eyes tight, hoping that the cold would disappear soon. But it didn't. Instead, the cold grew and she could even see the mist beginning to seep through the covers.

The mists passed into her skin and through the bed, and her skin paled a bit. Curiosity began to overtake her, and she lightly began to pull the covers to see what was inside the room.

As she did so, her blue eyes widened in horror.

There, standing in the middle of the mist, was a light blue girl, probably around her and Janet's age, standing motionlessly as she stared at Janet.

Her eyes burrowed into the brunette's soul, and she began hyperventilating in shock. She gasped in shock, and then let out a scream. Instantly, Sam jerked out of the bed.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Out of the corner of Janet's eye, she could see the mist exiting through the door, and the blue girl had vanished.

"There was this girl in the room," Janet explained. "And a blue mist, and the room became colder. I didn't know what to do, so I…"

She looked at the time again. It was 7:29.

"…..Whoops, gotta go!" Janet said and bolted through the door before Sam could respond. Taking off down the stairs, she ran into Agatha.

"Okay, my arm is feeling better so I think I can go to school now," Janet said. "Where's David?"

"School?" Agatha said. "There's no need for that today."

Janet raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" She asked, confused.

"School was cancelled," Agatha explained. "You and the other kids are free for today."

"Well isn't that a strange coincidence," Sam said, having followed Janet downstairs. "Also, where's David. If school is cancelled for the day, where has he gone?"

"He went out," Agatha said bluntly. Sam and Janet stared blankly at her.

"To do what?" Janet asked, having a feeling David was about to do something really dumb. As she would find out, she wasn't too far off.

"He said he needed to go talk to someone," Agatha answered. Sam and Janet gasped. The knew instantly what David was going to do, and they also knew it would not end well for him.

"Come on, Sam, let's go find my brother!" Janet said and grabbed Sam's hand, running out the door with him before Agatha could say anything.

"Um, be careful," She said, somewhat confused as to how abruptly the kids had left.

* * *

David was riding through the passageway of the forest on his bike. He had one person in mind: Brenda.

He was about to give that little brat a piece of his mind for manipulating his sister into giving her information. And he had a good idea just where she would be.

"And this, children, is how you spot a mirror person," He heard Brenda saying in a part of the forest. He stopped the bike on the road and hopped off, then started stomping towards where he heard Brenda's voice.

Eventually, he found Brenda and a bunch of other children in a neck of the woods. He could see Izzy sitting on a tree branch, but he didn't pay her much mind. He just had to set something straight with Brenda.

"You see, all mirror people have a blue shading in their hair," Brenda was saying to the other children, pointing at her own messy hair. "And furthermore…"

"Brenda Collins!" David shouted, causing Brenda to spin around in surprise. However, her expression dulled when she saw who it was.

"Oh great, it's the cynic," Brenda scoffed. "What do you want now? And make it quick, I'm talking to these kids."

"Oh, it's not going to be quick!" David shouted. The other kids groaned in annoyance. Apparently, they actually wanted to hear what Brenda was saying.

"How did you even know we were here?" Izzy asked from above the tree, not even bothering to look down at David.

"You and Brenda always come here," David reminded. "It's like your group spot or something."

"Just tell me why you're here?" Brenda asked, irritated.

"What was that crap you fed my sister?!" David screeched. "And why on earth did you dress her like some hooker?!"

"It's not going to affect her in anyway," Brenda reassured. "It was just a talk, and I asked if she knew anything about mirror people."

"That's a lie!" David shouted. "With all the things she said you claimed to know about, you may have permanently damaged her mentally."

"I don't think you know what that means," Izzy said from atop the tree. David glared up at her, gritting his teeth in displeasure. "You're one to talk!" He shouted up at her. "Do you even know the words that come out of your mouth?"

Izzy shrugged. "You can just say I'm sagacious," She replied with a smirk.

David groaned and then turned back to Brenda. "You may be going on our play date tomorrow, Brenda, but make no mistake, you are going nowhere near my sister!" He declared.

Brenda gave him a shove. "Look, your sister is going to be just fine, so don't go jumping to conclusions," She hissed.

"Oh, Janet will be fine, but what about him?" Izzy asked. David squinted up at her, confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

Izzy leapt off the tree branch and landed on the ground several feet away from him.

"You've been a pain in my neck for two years, David," Izzy exclaimed. "Acting like you know what's best for everyone. Well, maybe someone should teach you a lesson…"

"Yeah, he is very annoying," A diminutive boy agreed. The other kids murmured in agreement and glared at David, who backed up a bit.

"So, what do you say we string him up a bit?" Izzy suggested. The kids cheered a bit and then advanced towards David, who began feeling a tinge of intimidating.

By now, Sam and Janet were nearing the group of kids.

The two hid behind a fallen tree. "There they are," Sam said, peeking from above the tree. Janet took a glance and gasped.

"Why are they approaching my brother like that?" She asked, noticing the threatening glares the other kids were giving David.

"You see, David, no one cares what happens to Janet," The two heard Brenda say as the other children walked past her and towards David.

Janet's nails gripped the tree bark, somewhat upset at what Brenda had just said.

"She should just take care of herself," Brenda said. "Not let some boy go out and fight her own battles, which may get him hurt."

"That's not true!" David said defiantly. "Janet is a good person, better than all of you put together!"

Hearing this, Janet left the hiding spot and began sprinting towards the other children, infuriated.

"Oh, really?" Brenda mocked, oblivious to Janet approaching. "Well if she's such a good person, why isn't she here to stand up for you?"

By now, the other kids were inches away from David. One small girl with sandy blonde hair drew back her fist to punch David, but suddenly, Janet grabbed the girl's fist.

The other kids, including Brenda, jumped back in surprise. The blonde girl screamed in shock and was decked in the face by Janet, knocking her to the ground with a heavy thud.

Janet glared at Brenda. "What was that you were saying, Collins?" She hissed.

"Um, Janet, I didn't see you…" Brenda stuttered, still somewhat shocked at what she had seen. Before any of the other children could react, Sam bolted to the scene. However, he was in another disguise, with red hair and terracotta skin.

"Back off, all of you!" He demanded, shooing off the other children.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" Izzy asked in confusion. Sam stared at her for a moment and gestured for her to leave too. Perplexed, Izzy vanished behind the trees as well.

Now, all who were left were Sam, Janet, Brenda and David.

"How could you?" Janet asked Brenda angrily. "You not only used me like an old toy yesterday, but now you just tried to beat up my brother?"

"Hey, Izzy suggested it," Brenda reminded.

"That doesn't make you any less guilty!" Janet shot back. Brenda and Sam looked on, astounded at Janet's sudden burst of courage.

"Brenda, you and your friend Izzy are just bullies, and you've been picking on me and my brother for over a year," Janet said.

"Janet I-" Brenda started.

"No, Brenda, I'm done being nice to you!" Janet declared. "You don't know what is best for me, and you never will." With that, she grabbed David and Sam by the arm and dragged them from the forest, leaving Brenda.

"Come on, guys, let's go home," Janet said as the three took off down the passageway.


	18. Bella

Sam, David and Janet swung open the door and barged back into their house.

"What an awkward morning, wasn't it," David said, rubbing his forehead. "School is off for the day, a bunch of kids try to beat me up, and my little sister stood up for me."

"I guess I've been around Sam for too long," Janet suggested. "Technically, we've only known each other for a few days," Sam mentioned.

"Could this day get even weirder," David asked, brushing some dirt from his clothes. "Seriously, what could top what happened this morning?"

"I saw an apparition," Janet mentioned. David and Sam stared at her out of confusion.

"What do you mean, an apparition?" David asked, folding his arms. "Oh yeah, Janet mentioned that before we went to save your butt," Sam said. "She thought she saw some glowing blue girl in her room."

David paled a bit. "Hey, what's wrong?" Janet asked, noticing his freaked out expression.

"Izzy and Brenda…they mentioned something like that," David mumbled. Sam and Janet raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"I was eavesdropping on the two, and they said a few kids were seeing a glowing blue girl in their rooms," David explained.

"You mean like the girl we saw on the road before we met Sam?" Janet said. David nodded.

Sam gulped when he noticed that the two were now staring at him. "W-What is it?" He asked, somewhat confused.

"I mentioned that blue girl to you a few days ago," Janet recalled. "And you flipped out and asked if I saw who she was."

"Yeah, what's that supposed to do with anything?" Sam asked.

"Do you know that blue girl?" Janet asked. Sam took a deep breath and looked around, not knowing what to say. He bit his lip and finally said, "Maybe."

"Also, what about this Bella person?" David asked. "She's your sister, and you're rather secretive about her identity."

"I don't want to talk about her," Sam said harshly. "She's my sister and that's that. And she doesn't want me to reveal her identity anyways."

""Um, okay," David said. "However, I get the sense we're going to find out soon anyways."

"Whatever," Sam said as he raced up the stairs and into Janet's room. Flicking off the lights in the room, he leapt into the bed and sighed, exhausted.

"I really should be going home," He said to himself. "Bella is probably worried sick about me anyways, and I don't want to disappoint her."

Before Sam could contemplate further, he heard a knock on the window. Glancing at the window, he saw a dark silhouette standing from outside. It had the appearance of a girl.

"Hello, Samson," The voice whispered like a breeze of wind.

"Bella?!" Sam practically gasped, instantly recognizing the voice. "But-but, how did you-"

"I followed you to the Barrett house," Bella explained. "Since you were with David and Janet, I pretty much put together that you were with them."

Sam breathed in and out, uncomfortable. The window slipped open and Bella crawled inside. The room was dark so Bella couldn't be very well seen, even by Sam.

"We're going home Samson, now," Bella demanded. Sam clenched the bed covers in response as he tried to find a way to explain why he wanted to stay with the Barretts.

"Um, Bella, do you think you could compromise your visit for maybe a few more days," Sam spouted out. He knew it wouldn't work, but he felt like trying anyways.

"Kizzy spend two nights searching for you," Bella explained. "Several kids saw her and she nearly blew her cover. And if you continue staying with them, you might blow your cover with the other kids as well."

Sam bit his lip. "That's true, but, um…" Sam froze, knowing that what he was going to say next wouldn't exactly be a very reassuring thing to Bella.

"Well, what is it, Samson?" Bella asked, her tone sounding a little nervous.

"They know about my powers," Sam blurted out. The moment he spoke those words, the room suddenly became chilly. Bella stood as still as a statue, not uttering a word.

Then, her eyes and mouth started glowing blue, then her whole body. Sam covered his eyes, fearing the worst. A bright light omitted from Bella's body and in an instant, the room was covered in a bright blue light.

However, that was all that happened. The light vanished as quickly as it appeared, and Bella's body was restored to normal. However, in a few seconds, the door was pushed open, revealing David.

"What was that?!" He shouted frantically. "I saw a blue light coming from in the room and-" He saw Bella's silhouette, but couldn't see her clearly.

"What the…" He whispered. Bella wasn't going to wait for him to find out who she was, and she slipped through the window and out the house.

"Hey!" David shouted and bolted towards the window with surprising speed. "David, don't!" Sam shouted but David was too quick. He pushed the window sill open and leapt out.

It was then he remembered the window was twelve meters above the ground. He screamed as he plummeted down onto the driveway. However, he landed on his parents car, which somewhat broke his fall, but still injured his left arm.

David rolled onto the ground, groaning in pain, when he saw that Bella was sprinting off towards the forest.

Ignoring the pain in his arm, David got to his feet and took off running after the girl. "Hey, stop!" He shouted at her, but she ignored him. Soon, she disappeared into the forest. But David didn't give up. He continued into the forest as well.

It was surprisingly foggy in the forest, and there was a rather large gray mist concealing David's surroundings.

"Great, just great," David said. "Now, when I'm looking for someone, is when the forest decides to turn foggy."

He heard footsteps from inside the fog. They appeared to be going in a certain direction, and David took off after it.

"I'm not going to lose her now," He whispered as he managed to see the silhouette from inside the fog. However, the silhouette paused for a bit and David crashed right into her.

The two toppled over each other until the girl landed on David. David groaned in pain and he struggled to open his eyes, and saw who was on top of him.

"Izzy?!" He said, confused. Izzy was breathing heavily, clearly shaken. However, she regained her composure and got to her feet.

"What are you doing lounging around in the forest?" She demanded. "And don't you ask the same thing. I have the excuse that I was already here since last time you saw me, which was about twenty minutes ago."

"I…I was looking for this girl that was in Janet's room," David explained. "You sure it wasn't just Janet?" Izzy asked.

"No, there was a glowing blue light before I came in," He said. "So I think it's a mirror person, probably Sam's sister he mentioned before."

"Oh come on, you've fallen for the mirror people thing too?" Izzy asked, irritated. "You keep saying they aren't real, why do you believe them now?"

"It's complicated," David said. "And there was a glowing blue light when I saw that girl, so it has to be-"

"Maybe it was Sam?" Izzy suggested, then covered her mouth.

"No it couldn't…" David paused. "Wait…what did you say?"

"Nothing," Izzy replied. However, David wasn't convinced. "Nothing?" He said. "You said something about Sam being the one to glow blue."

"Yeah, what-what about it?" Izzy mumbled.

"How do you know Sam can glow blue?" David asked, taking a step forward.

Izzy gulped. "I was just thinking irrationally," She explained. "A mumble. It's not like I've seen him do it before…"

"What do you mean, 'before'?" David pressed on. Izzy silently cursed to herself.

"Another slip of the tongue, that's it," Izzy said, a beat of sweat on her forehead.

"The girl who always speaks in long words is mumbling?" David said. "That's something unexpected from you."

Izzy bit her tongue. "Hey, you brought up Bella, not me," She reminded.

"And how do you know that girls name is Bella?" David said suspiciously. Izzy began backing up a bit as David pressed forward.

"I heard you talking about her," She tried to explain. "We've only talked about her from inside our house, so unless you've been sneaking in our house, that's unlikely," David said.

Izzy began breathing heavily as she pressed herself against the tree.

"I am not Bella!" She shouted as a final attempt to be defiant.

"…I never said you were, Izzy," David responded. Then his eyes widened as he remembered something.

"Izzy, Bella, Izzy, Bella…" He mumbled to himself. "Izzy-Bella!"

"What do you mean?" Izzy asked.

"You're name isn't Izzy OR Bella," David said, putting two and two together. "You're real name is Isabella! Izzy is your nickname and Bella is just an alias!"

The fog seemed to dissipate as Izzy clenched her fists, exasperated.

"You are Sam's sister," David said, pointing an accusing finger at her and ignoring her irritated expression.

Izzy realized that she was caught. There was no getting out of this predicament. So, she came clean.

"Yes, I _am_."


	19. Revelation

"Yes, I _am_."

That moment when you think something is true but the revelation you are right still surprises you could now be applied to David. The moment Izzy, or Isabella, spoke those words, realization dawned upon him and he suddenly didn't feel very confident.

"So…so you are Sam's sister," He said, breathing heavily. Isabella gritted her teeth and reluctantly nodded. Then, her appearance began to alter slightly. She still had the red hair, but the lower half of it turned blue, her skin darkened slightly, and her shiny green eyes became bright blue.

"Don't tell Brenda," She warned. "Understand me?"

David didn't respond. He was still recovering from the shock of the revelation. "Did you hear me?" Isabella asked. "I said don't tell her!"

"I can't believe it," David muttered. "I've known you for two years, longer than I've known Brenda, maybe even longer than she's known you. How could I NOT know this?"

Isabella shrugged. "You aren't as smart as you like to think, David," She replied simply.

"There are so many things that never added up until now," David said. "I never saw your house. I never saw your parents. You always seemed to just disappear in the forest like that."

Then, forgetting what Isabella had said beforehand, David suddenly added, "I have to tell Brenda." With that, he turned to take off.

"NO!" Isabella shouted, and David suddenly found him flung into a tree. The tree immediately toppled over from the force.

Isabella stomped over to him. "You are not telling Brenda about this!" She hissed, grabbing David by the collar and hoisting him on his feet.

"Or what?" David asked. "You'll kill me?"

"Well, half of me might," Isabella responded. David flinched a bit. Isabella had never been very kind to him, but the thought that she may actually end his life made him uncomfortable.

"W-what?" He stammered nervously.

Isabella sighed and dropped David to the ground. "Sorry about that," She mumbled in a somewhat insincere tone. "But, a lot has happened lately thanks to you."

"Hey, it's not my fault some blue girl knocked me out on the road," David argued, getting to his feet and brushing his clothes off.

"You shouldn't of been there in the first place," Isabella hissed, clenching her fists. "We were upset."

"What do you mean, 'we'?" David asked. "Does that girl have anything to do with you?"

"It's complicated," Isabella replied. "But you have to bring Sam back to us, NOW."

David bit his lips as he tried to come up with an explanation. "It's a long story," David said. "But the thing is, Sam's…he's…"

"Spit it out!" Isabella demanded, frustrated.

"He's been staying with us voluntarily," David explained.

Isabella's mouth hung open in disbelief. "But that's impossible!" She said. "Sam would never stay with the likes of you willingly." She gasped and then added, "Did you infect him or something?"

"I'm not a virus, Izzy," David said. "You go and ask him yourself. He wants to stay-"

He was cut off when Isabella transformed her hand into a blade and pointed it at his throat. David gulped in fear and a beat of sweat dripped down his forehead.

"You have 24 hours," Isabella said. "Go get Sam, and send him back to the mirror with us. Okay, kid?" She pressed the blade against his throat lightly.

David nodded, and Isabella removed the blade and then disappeared into the fog.

* * *

"So, your sister came to visit you here?" Janet asked Sam inside her room. Sam nodded a bit and bit his lip. "It's a long story," Sam said. "And I told her you and David know about my powers, so now I think she's upset."

Janet nodded in response. Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a shivering David shambled inside. He had a frozen look of fear on his face.

"David, where were you?" Janet asked. "Sam was just filling me in on his sister coming here and-"

"I know who your sister is, Sam," David revealed. The room grew silent. Sam and Janet stared at David in shock.

"You what?" Sam asked. David bolted onto the bed in between Sam and Janet. "I know who she is," He repeated.

Sam's face paled in shock. "W-what happened?" He asked, fearing the worst. "Yeah, who is it?" Janet asked.

"It's Izzy!" He shouted at Janet and began breathing heavily. Sam's eyes widened in shock and he bit his fingers. Janet's mouth hang open in shock.

"Izzy…" Janet said in disbelief. "Izzy is…"

"Yes, she is," David responded worriedly. "She confessed herself." The three didn't speak a word for several minutes as they tried to comprehend what had been said.

"Does Brenda know?" Janet asked. David and Sam shook their heads. "She said she'd kill me if I told Brenda about it," David said.

"Guys, there's something I should tell you," Sam said. The two stared at him. Sam, truly, didn't want to say anything, but now that his sister had been found out, he felt he needed to confess something.

"Me and Bella…are orphans," He said. David and Janet stared at him in confusion before they both said, "We know."

"Well, some kids have asked why I'm not in an orphanage, then," Sam continued. "Well, me and Bella used to live in one."

"Well, what happened?" David asked. Janet nodded in agreement. Sam sighed.

"Look, the people in the orphanage knew about my powers and my…reflection," Sam explained. "They did with Bella, too. But things were different. They loved Bella for her powers because she had more control over them. But I wasn't as fortunate. When I used my powers, something usually went wrong. Kids got injured, parts of the building would get damaged, so I wasn't very popular."

"We know how that feels," Janet mumbled under her breath.

"But then I met her," Sam said, and his face lit up briefly. David and Janet stared at him in confusion. "Who?" Janet asked.

"Her name was Amanda," Sam said. "She was a nice kid. She liked me. We became friends, and the fact that the other kids didn't respect me very much suddenly became an afterthought. I was happy, and so was she. And then…"

"And then what?" David asked, intrigued.

"Okay, about our reflections," Sam said. "They can't usually leave their mirrors, but we can. The thing is, if we let our emotions lose control, then they can possess us or something, and use us to enter this world."

"One of you lost control of your emotions?" David asked. Sam nodded, and a look of uncertainty spread across his face.

"It was…it was me!" He spat out after a while. "I got angry about something. I don't even remember what, and my reflection, he possessed me! He didn't like Amanda, so he, hurt her. Badly."

David and Janet stared at him in shock. "What happened to her?" Janet asked worriedly.

"She was taken to the hospital," Sam said. "At that point, Mirror Isabella, my sister's reflection, had us move out of the orphanage to avoid being taken away. Because of that…I never got to find out what happened to Amanda." A tear began to form in his eyes, but he wiped it away.

David and Janet stared at Sam for a moment as he covered his face. Eventually, he regained his composure and got off the bed.

"Um, guys," Sam said.

"What is it?" Janet asked.

"I think I should introduce you to someone," Sam replied.


	20. Mirror Dimension

Sam led David and Janet through the misty forest, holding each of their hands to avoid getting separated from them in the fog.

"Are you sure we should be here?" Janet asked, somewhat nervous. "I mean, Izzy-I mean Isabella could still be out here."

"Don't worry, we're almost there," Sam reassured, winking at the siblings. He then waved a hand and cleared the fog, allowing them to be able to see the forest.

"Where are you taking us?" David asked suspiciously. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Oh, it's simple," Sam said. "Isabella wanted me in the mirror by 24 hours, but she didn't say for how long."

"You know, I don't think she intended for that little loophole of yours," David replied, agitated. "And she stuck a blade at my neck and implied she might kill me. She seems pretty serious."

"Don't worry, she's just bluffing," Sam replied. "I know her, and she would never do something like that, even towards someone she doesn't like too much."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," David replied sarcastically. Sam halted the two at a tree stump. "Here we are," Sam said, gesturing towards the stump.

"Here?" Janet asked, uncertain. "Your home is in your tree stump?"

"No, silly," Sam said before his transparent hands stretched out and removed the branches covering the large mirror. David and Janet stared at it in confusion.

"THIS is what I'm talking about," Sam said. "I live in that mirror. Come in." With that, he dove into the mirror and disappeared inside. Janet paused for a bit, then excitedly jumped into the mirror as well.

David blinked. "This is so confusing," He mumbled and climbed into the mirror after the two.

Once inside, he landed on a smooth surface. Getting to his feet, David stared in amazement. He seemed to be in a room, but it was black and blue in colour. There was no real furniture or objects in the room save for the mirror.

"Well, here we are," Sam said to him happily. "The Mirror dimension."

"Sounds neat" Janet said from behind him. The two raced for the door and pushed it open before David could fully comprehend what was happening.

"Hey, wait for me!" He shouted and took off after them. Kicking the door open, he found himself in a long black hallway with Sam and Janet racing down it. David groaned and followed them.

"So, uh, who are we going to meet here?" David asked, confused. Sam didn't give and answer and continued on his way with Janet close behind him.

David followed them down the hallway, intrigued.

"Where are you taking us?" He asked. "To go meet someone," Sam answered before adding, "I told you that already."

"Yeah, but who?" David asked. Sam stopped at a door at the end of the hallway. Pushing the door open, Sam entered a new room, with Janet and David following, feeling somewhat uncertain.

"Kizzy, are you in here?" Sam called out. After no initial response, a small girl floated down from the ceiling and towards Sam. David and Janet hid in the shadows, mystified.

The girl had light blue skin and dark blue hair. She looked about a year older than Sam, and she was wearing a black gown with blue stripes. She landed in front of Sam with a cross look on her face.

"That's the girl I saw in my room," Janet whispered, tugging on David's sleeves.

"Kizzy, it's you," Sam said joyously. "Look, a bunch of incidents happened, and I was staying with this family, and-" He was cut off when Kizzy punched him in the stomach, causing him to double-over and gasp in pain.

David and Janet gasped, watching in shock.

"Do you realize how worried your sisters were?" Kizzy snapped at Sam. "They had me check the neighbourhood to find you, and I was nearly caught a multiplicity of times! Are you pleased with yourself?!"

"Well, maybe I could answer if you let me speak," Sam choked out, sitting on the ground. "Look, I was staying with these siblings. Their names are David and Janet. I'll talk more, but I need to see Mirror Isabella now. Have you seen her?"

Kizzy scoffed and pointed a finger at a small room. Sam beckoned for the siblings to follow him, but they kept out of sight from Kizzy as they followed him to the room.

"This is Mirror Isabella's substitute room," Sam explained. "She lives away from here, and usually only comes when something important has happened."

"So, where is she?" David asked nervously. The three walked over to a rather large crystal bed on the centre of the room, but they could find no sign of Mirror Isabella.

Suddenly, the three heard a screech coming from behind them. Screaming in surprise, David and Janet jumped forward and bounced on the bed before landing on the floor. Sam, however, casually turned around to see a crystal blue girl, visibly around Isabella's age, hanging upside down from the ceiling.

"Mirror Isabella!" Sam said happily and hugged the girl while she was still hanging from the ceiling. David and Janet trembled as they peeked up from behind the bed and watched the two. They saw that Mirror Isabella looked just like the real Isabella, but had a blue colour palette. Her hair was also much longer, reaching past her shoulders. She was wearing a blue nightgown.

Mirror Isabella dropped to the ground and hugged Sam back, and for a moment, David saw a look of genuine happiness on the girl's face. But then she frowned and pushed Sam away.

"Sam, where were you these last few days?" She asked, clearly disappointed.

"It's a long story," Sam said. "But here's the short version: I got hit by a truck, two kids named David and Janet saved me, and they took me to their house where I stayed for a bit."

"David and Janet," Mirror Isabella mumbled. "Hey, Isabella talks about those two all the time."

"Izzy talks about us?" Janet whispered to David, who shrugged. Unfortunately, Mirror Isabella heard them and floated over the bed.

"I can't believe Izzy actually mentioned us to her," Janet continued to David, oblivious to Mirror Isabella until she, along with David, noticed her hovering a few feet above them.

Instantly, the two grew silent.

Mirror Isabella stared at them in shock, then turned back towards Sam.

"Did you...bring them here?" She asked.


	21. Meeting

"Did you…bring them here?" Mirror Isabella asked Sam, who stood at the other side of the bed, conflicted as to how to respond.

"Well, I did bring them to see you, but…" Sam paused a bit and stared awkwardly at the ground. Mirror Isabella glared at him and turned down to stare at the two unfamiliar children below her.

David and Janet stood crouched at the bed, staring up at Mirror Isabella, who was hovering several feet above the ground near them. David gulped, somewhat intimidated. Mirror Isabella seemed more serious than Isabella, and if she was a reflection of Isabella, did that mean she had her mean-spirited personality? He simply sat, quietly, in front of the glowing girl, waiting for her to respond.

Janet, however, had a different response. She happily stood up and waved to the older girl.

"Hello, Izzy's reflection," She greeted. "I'm Janet Barret, and your brother's new friend, and this is my brother David Barret. We were brought here to meet you."

_Izzy's reflection? _Sam thought to himself from the other side of the bed. _That's a dehumanizing way to refer to my sister._

Mirror Isabella stared down at Janet, somewhat perplexed, and blinked about twice, before zipping past Janet in a burst of blue mist. She grabbed Janet's shoulder, causing the eight year old to shiver. Mirror Isabella's hand was surprisingly chilly.

"This is a unheralded ingress," She whispered. "My younger brother has invited a infinitesimal little colleen and her kinsperson to my exquisite enclosure."

David, who had pretty much decided that Mirror Isabella had the same personality as her counterpart, stood up and rolled his eyes.

"Well, gee, it's a good thing she has Izzy's remarkable taste of wording," He mumbled sarcastically. "Seriously, that was like, six or seven words I didn't understand."

"Educate yourself," Mirror Isabella sneered, frowning a bit at him. She let go of Janet's shoulder and floated over towards him. "And, what significance do you have with my sister, lad?"

"We're, uh…significant to each other," David said with a shrug. He didn't want to tell Mirror Isabella that he was arch-enemies with her sister.

Mirror Isabella's right eye sparkled a bit and she said, "Isabella mentions you and your little sibling nearly every day. She says you and her are 'tight', which is a pretty undignified way of speaking." She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Yeah, I guess so," David agreed. "So, I guess you're wondering why Sam was gone for those last few days."

"Oh, oh, I can explain this one," Janet said, waving her arms. "Sam was hit by a truck, and he nearly drowned, but I rescued him, and we took him back to our house, and he tried to leave, and I followed him, and I got mauled by a dog, and he saved me and revealed his powers to me, and we befriended each other."

Mirror Isabella stared at Janet in bewilderment.

"Janet, can't you see you're your filling my sister with unimportant information?" Sam said with a nervous smile. "Besides, she doesn't care about that stuff, right?"

Mirror Isabella turned to him, and Sam paled.

"Can we talk, Samson?" Mirror Isabella asked. Sam nodded slowly and Mirror Isabella began to float towards him. David and Janet followed, but Mirror Isabella halted him.

"Alone," She added to them before continuing towards Sam. Taking Sam by the hand, Mirror Isabella led him out of the room, leaving the two siblings alone.

"…Sam's sister seems nice," Janet said after a while.

* * *

The moment the two were out of the room, Mirror Isabella scowled and pushed Sam onto the ground.

"You must be screwing with me, Samson Crystal!" She hissed. "You not only almost got yourself killed, but you revealed your powers to two anonymous little kids! You've been brought up way better than this!" She floated towards him, causing him to recoil slightly.

"Look, David and Janet are nice kids," Sam defended himself. "They're parents may be intrigued by my powers, but David and Janet are different."

"Oh, that's SO much better," Mirror Isabella, narrowing her eyes. "These two snot-nosed kids don't care about your powers, but their parents, who have a higher authority of power, do!"

"Their parents aren't that bad, okay," Sam said.

"And how do you know?" Mirror Isabella asked. "You've only spent a couple of days with them. How do you know what their true ambition is? Maybe they want to lock you in a lab so scientists can poke and prod you like some kind of freak of nature!"

"They wouldn't do that!" Sam argued, but his expression spoke differently.

"How do you know?" Mirror Isabella inquired. "Don't you know what non-Mirror people are capable of? They may not have powers, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous."

"David and Janet are not dangerous," Sam said, agitated. "They're kids. Janet's the same age as I am, maybe younger. You can't just go around accusing her of that."

"Samson, you leave that girl right now," Mirror Isabella ordered, aiming a finger at him. "She should not have anything to do with us, or you!"

At that point, Sam was now the one to glare. He stood up and stared at Mirror Isabella. "She's my friend, Mirror Isabella!" He shouted at her angrily.

At that point, Mirror Isabella raised her hand above Sam's face. Sam's face softened and a look of fear replaced it. He raised his hands to shield himself and recoiled.

"I'm sorry, sister," He mumbled bitterly. "I'll come back tomorrow. But please let me spend at least one more day with them. Please."

Mirror Isabella lowered her hand a bit. She stared at Sam for about a minute, then whispered, "You may. But don't compromise me."

Sam nodded vigorously, and sighed heavily.

* * *

David and Janet were sitting on the bed, waiting for the two to return, when Sam and Mirror Isabella arrived back into the room.

"Mirror Isabella is letting me stay with you guys for one more day!" He said happily, hugging the two kids. "But she wants me to come back tomorrow."

Janet frowned a bit. "But you're my best friend," She whispered to Sam. Mirror Isabella, who was watching a few feet away, grimaced at Janet's comment.

"Out, out, both of you," She said. "It's reaching the afternoon, anyways."

Sam nodded and took Janet by the arm, walking out the room with her. Janet waved to Mirror Isabella as they left.

David got up from the bed and began to follow, but Mirror Isabella unexpectedly grabbed him by the arm. Yanking him towards her, Mirror Isabella whispered into David's ear.

"David, keep your sister _away _from my brother."


	22. Upcoming Events

"Your sister seems like a nice kid," Janet said as she and Sam slipped through the mirror and back into the real world. "A little stoic, but nice nonetheless."

"Yeah, sure thing Janet," Sam said, a sliver of uncertainty in his voice. He then decided to change the subject. "So, how well do you think you could teach me a little more control over my powers?"

"I'm not entirely sure about that," Janet replied with a shrug as the two trekked through the forest. "But I could try."

"Great news," Sam whispered, rolling his eyes.

By now, David had joined them. "Um, Janet, Sam," He called out. The two eight year olds stopped and turned to face him.

"Izzy's reflection told me to give you guys a message," David explained. "She told me to tell you that you two should keep away from each other."

The two kids stared at David in silence, unblinking as they processed the information.

"That's, uh, an odd message," Sam said, shrugging. "I mean, there are a few plot holes in it. How far away from each other? How long should we keep away from each other?"

"She didn't go into detail," David said. "But she sounded serious."

Sam froze. "You know, maybe I should just go back home now," He suggested and began to walk towards the mirror, but Janet lightly grabbed his sleeve.

"Oh, come on Sam, I bet she was just kidding," Janet said with a smile.

"Um, I guess," Sam said, uncertain.

"Maybe she's a little jealous," Janet joked, brushing Sam's arm playfully. Sam responded with a gulp and, after a few moments, decided to continue following the two Barrets towards their house."

"Besides, Mirror Isabella isn't our primary concern right now," David said.

"Who is, then?" Sam asked.

"Don't you know who's coming for out play-date?" David reminded. Janet and Sam suddenly remembered.

"Brenda Collins and her lousy parents," Sam and Janet said in unison. Then, Janet added, "Jinx! You owe me a soda!"

"No I don't," Sam said bluntly.

"Guys, this is no time for jokes," David said. "When Brenda comes tomorrow, she's just going to try and learn more about mirror people from Janet."

"Oh, yeah," Janet said. "Well, I won't let her! I'm not going to let her fool me with the promise of stupid clothes!"

"Right," Sam said. "Besides, if she tries something, it's still three against one."

"Exactly," David said. "But still, she worries me. Who knows what malevolent scheme she's concocting at this very moment?"

* * *

Mom, Dad, do I really have to go to on this play date?" Brenda whined while sitting on a couch at her house. Bob was watching a soccer game on the television screen while stuffing his mouth with chips while her mother was picking out clothing for Brenda to wear to school.

"Of course you do," Mary replied without bothering to turn and look at her daughter.

"But why?" Brenda asked. "Our last play date was a disaster, and this morning, I got in a fight with David and Janet."

"All friends have fights," Bob mumbled as he continued watching the game.

"I'm not friends with those two," Brenda insisted. "Besides, they still probably don't want to see me right now, or tomorrow."

"Well, we can't change that, honey," Mary said.

"Yes you can," Brenda said. "You can just cancel the play dates for tomorrow. Besides, I want to see what Izzy has to do tomorrow."

"Yeah, well we don't know where Izzy lives," Bob replied. "And besides, we don't know any other families all to well, so why bother when we can just focus on one."

"You don't even like them," Brenda said.

"Who cares whether we like them or not?" Bob asked, stuffing another chip in his mouth. "This is about you befriending Dave and Jet."

"Their names are David and Janet," Brenda corrected. "Whatever," Bob says. "I have a game to watch."

Brenda groaned in exasperation.

* * *

"Lizzy, Kizzy, come here right now," Mirror Isabella ordered, hovering through the window and biting her fingernails. Instantly, Kizzy flew into the room, followed by Lizzy, the girl who had talked to Brenda and Isabella beforehand.

"Yes, Mirror Isabella," The two chimed and curtseyed.

Mirror Isabella stopped hovering and landed slowly onto the ground. Tracing back and forth for about a minute, she stopped in front of the two girls.

"Sam has made two "friends"," Mirror Isabella said, rolling her eyes. "Especially that girl with hair coloured like mire named Janet."

"Hmm, and what do you have to ask of us?" Lizzy asked, gesturing for Mirror Isabella to continue.

Mirror Isabella clenched her fist and pursed her lips. "Look, I know Sam and Izzy hate for me to intrude on their business, but…"

"You want us to spy on them again, don't you," Kizzy correctly guessed.

"Just act like a surveillance for my little brother, okay," Mirror Isabella responded, her eyes gleaming. "Can you do that for me, hmm?"

Lizzy and Kizzy stared at each other for a moment, then turned to Mirror Isabella and nodded, eliciting a grin from the latter.

"Great, now get moving," Mirror Isabella ordered as the two girls took off in a swirl of mystical blue. "And don't hesitate to intervene if something suspicious happens," She added.

As Mirror Isabella watched the two girls leave the room, a small glowing blue boy, looking around eight years old, watched from a small crevice in the room.

"Oh dear, Mirror Isabella," The boy whispered in displeasure. "Not again."


	23. Practice

Sam, David, and Janet had finally reached their house, and were at the driveway.

"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked Janet, who simply shrugged in response. David, who was watching, rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, I'm a little worried," Sam whispered nervously. "I am too, Sam," Janet said, holding Sam's wrists, "But we have to give it a little try."

"Actually, I have to agree with the preconscious shrimp here," David cut in. "I mean, I thought you were joking about training him to use his powers, but, you were serious about this?"

"Of course I was," Janet said, astounded. "Why would I joke about that?"

David shrugged. "I don't know, it just seemed like you couldn't do it," He said.

"Is this because I'm a girl?" Janet asked, glaring.

"NO!" David defended, taken aback. "I mean, I don't think I could train him either! We're both kids with little understanding on how these mirror powers work."

"Um, are you going to 'train me' or are you just going to continue arguing?" Sam asked, folding his arms. "Besides, I want to see what the kid can do."

"Great, at least someone respects me," Janet said, putting her hands on her hips and smiling triumphantly. "Okay Sam, I want you to make a ball of fire."

"…What?" Sam asked. "We're immediately going to do this?"

"Yes we are," Janet said. "Now make a ball of fire."

Both Sam and David gulped. Sam, reluctantly, then raised his hand out, and a small blue flame appeared over his palm. Janet's eyes lit up.

"Now, make it bigger," She demanded.

"Janet, aren't you over thinking this?" Sam asked, somewhat disturbed. However, he nevertheless agreed, and the fireball was increased in size.

By now, the fireball was beginning to slightly burn Sam's hand. Yelping in pain, Sam tossed the fireball into the air.

"Heads up!" David shouted and tackled Janet out of the way as the fireball went soaring to the ground. It smashed onto the ground, barely missing their parents car. As soon as the fireball made impact on the driveway, it vanished.

David got to his knees, shuddering. Janet, however, sprung to her feet, ecstatic. "That was awesome!" She cried.

"No, we could've died!" David shouted.

"But we didn't," Janet pointed out. Unconvinced, David got to his feet and approached Sam, who was still recovering from burning his hand.

"Look kid, you have to find a way to make your fireballs disappear without just throwing them," David snapped. "If you don't you may end up killing someone, or worse."

"Sorry, but I told you, I'm not very adept at stuff like this," Sam reminded.

"Well, do it again, maybe you could control it," Janet suggested. "Practice makes perfect, after all."

Sam nodded and made another fireball. However, as he tried to find some way to make it disappear, it grew out of control and he was forced to toss it away. It landed on the grass, burning a few grass to a crisp.

"Again," Janet said. Once more Sam made a fireball that resulted in a similar failure.

"Again," Janet repeated. Sam rolled his eyes and tried again, but it once more ended in disaster. But still, Janet did not relent.

After several more tries, Sam collapsed on the ground, exhausted. "I give up, Janet," Sam said. "I don't think I'll ever master this thing."

Janet sighed. "Well if you can't control it, you could end up endangering others and yourself," She pointed out. Sam face palmed.

"I'm actually way better at dissipating snow and ice," Sam revealed. Then, as a demonstration, he created a small glowing snowball and then effortlessly made it vanish.

Janet's eyes brightened when she saw it. "Wait, that's it Sam," She said, snapping her fingers.

"What's it?" Sam and David asked in unison.

"Make a fireball," Janet said. Sam's eye twitched.

"Janet, I told you-" Sam started but Janet cut him off with a wave of her hand. Groaning, Sam once more made a fireball that began to increase in size.

"Um, Janet?" David said, backing away from Sam.

"Now, make a blast of snow," Janet ordered. Quick as lightning, a blast of ice erupted from Sam's hand, engulfing the fireball and putting it out.

"Whoa," Sam and David both said, Sam backing up a bit.

"That's how you do it," Janet said. "You can use our other powers as a way to control your abilities. Your ice powers overcame your fire powers and caused the fire to vanish."

"That's actually rather smart," Sam said with a smile. Suddenly, the three heard the door creak open. They turned around to see Felix and Agatha standing at the door, a look of awe on their faces.

"We noticed you using your powers and saw you use the snow to get rid of the fire," Felix explained. "It was…amazing."

"I showed him to do that," Janet said proudly.

"…Hey, you think you could do that again, just to see if you can handle it," Agatha said with a smile. Sam nodded and made a fireball, then created a blast of ice that evaporated the fire.

"Amazing," David said, eliciting a smile from Janet, who folded her arms in a look of victory. Then, David added, "But we have to keep Brenda from knowing about this."

Janet and Sam nodded understandingly.

* * *

In the mirror dimension, Mirror Isabella paced back and forth, her arms folded behind her back, when the door to her room was pushed open and a certain red-head entered.

"Oh, it's you Bella," Mirror Isabella said, clearly disinterested, before continuing to pace around. Isabella rolled her eyes and began to pick out a black and blue t-shirt.

"So, don't overreact, but David knows I'm a mirror person," Isabella confessed. Mirror Isabella paused.

"I know, Bella," Mirror Isabella revealed. "Our little brother brought his friends over to come see me." Isabella briefly gained a look of surprise before regaining her calm expression.

"So, how did it go?" Isabella asked.

"I couldn't care less about David, but Janet worries me," Mirror Isabella admitted.

"No, it's David who's a pain in the posteriors," Isabella replied. "Janet's harmless."

"Yeah, but she and Sam seem to have gotten close those last few days," Mirror Isabella sold, folding her arms across her chest. "She reminds me a bit of that orphanage girl two years back…"

"I thought we agreed not to talk about her," Isabella whispered.

"Look, Bella, if Janet's really becoming friends with Sam, then you know he'll start distancing himself from us, and someone is bound to get hurt, and you don't want that to happen, do you?" Mirror Isabella inquired.

Isabella paused, then shook her head.

"Exactly," Mirror Isabella said. "Now get out. I have to think things over."

Isabella nodded and exited the room.


	24. Lizzy

The very next day was school, unfortunately for David and Janet. However, the day past by quicker than they'd hoped.

Isabella was coincidentally off from school, so part of the bullying duo was no concern for the Barret siblings. Brenda, on the other hand, did attend school, but she didn't bother David t all and pretty much ignored him. At the same time, however, she had become very popular amongst the class, no doubt because of the information of mirror people she had ripped from Janet.

Despite Isabella and Brenda being of no concern for either of the two, David and Janet were still feeling kind of odd. Janet practically shut down from the rest of the class and David just brushed off the other kids. Nevertheless, school ended and David, Janet and Brenda left for home.

As Janet caught up to David, she said, "Are you worried?"

"About what?" David asked, though he already knew the answer.

"About the play date," Janet answered. "Brenda and her parents are coming over."

David shrugged. "I'm not scared of Brenda," He insisted. "As long as we keep her in the dark on Sam and his abilities, we should be in the safe until the play date ends."

"Yeah, I guess so," Janet agreed. However, a hand suddenly grasped the two by the shoulders. David rolled his eyes and Janet flinched. The two siblings spun around, expecting to see Brenda, but were instead met with a new face.

"Hey, who are you?" Janet asked when she saw a blonde girl about Isabella's age. She was wearing a shirt similar to Isabella's signature red shirt, but was blue instead. She was wearing a black skirt and black and blue stockings, along with dark blue shoes.

"I'm Lizzy, Janet," The girl replied.

"Hey, you're that girl in my class," David said. "Always hanging around with Izzy whenever Brenda isn't around."

Lizzy sidestepped past David and flipped onto a large rock.

"You know David, I've always wondered what it's like being like you," Lizzy said. "Well, a creature like you, to be precise."

"Creature?" David said, then realized something. "Wait a minute, Lizzy? Izzy?"

"Coincidence, much," Lizzy said, balancing on the rock.

"You are kidding me," David snorted. "You guys really suck when it comes to names. You guys couldn't come up with a good name so you just decided to rhyme it with Izzy?"

"Don't be rude, David," Janet whispered nervously. "We're dealing with a mirror person here."

"I'm not exactly a mirror person, exactly," Lizzy said, jumping off the rock and landing upside down on her hands.

"Then what are you?" David asked. "Sam's caregiver or guardian or something."

"No, I'm Bella's," Lizzy corrected. "Kizzy is Sam's guardian."

"Kizzy?" Janet asked. "Who's that?"

David folded his arms. "You guys really have to come up with way more creative names," He sneered. "This is getting old."

Lizzy mock giggled. "That's sweet of you," She sarcastically said. "Hey, maybe you could use that kind of smart talk in actual negative situations, okay."

With that, she playfully smacked David's cheek.

"Oh shi-" David shouted but stopped himself. Janet jumped back in surprise as David stumbled backwards, holding his cheek. He took a few deep breaths and removed his hand.

"Um, how does it look?" David asked. Janet gulped when she saw his cheek.

"Uh, you may want to ask the mirror that," She replied nervously.

* * *

David, upon reaching his house, took off to the mirror in the washroom. Upon looking at his reflection, he immediately saw that his cheek was incredibly red and bruised, and a few cuts were there.

Sam entered the washroom, along with Janet.

"Janet told me about Lizzy," He said. David turned to him and Sam winced upon seeing him.

"What happened to your face?" Sam asked. David's face twitched in a mixture of pain and annoyance.

"Lizzy happened, kid," David said angrily. "That freaking hurt more than it should have!" He massaged his aching jaw.

"That's Lizzy for you," Sam said, shrugging apathetically. "She gets like that sometimes."

"You don't even care?" Janet asked, tapping Sam's shoulder.

"Well, it was just one slap, right?" Sam asked. David glared at him in response, as did Janet. For some reason, Sam felt more uncomfortable that Janet was staring at him angrily, which hadn't happened before.

"Sorry, it's, uh…" Sam simply retreated from the washroom, leaving David and Janet alone.

"Something weird happened there," Janet said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," David said, rolling his eyes while still clutching his jaw. "That kid is hiding something, and it's more than just his powers."

"Actually, let's not worry about him, right now," Janet said. "I think he needs some time alone. In the meantime, let's worry about someone worth worrying about."

"Brenda Collins," David hissed.

"I wonder what she's planning back at her house," Janet whispered, tugging on her ponytail.

* * *

Brenda sat on her bed, lost in her thoughts.

"Who knew popularity could be so aggravating," She grumbled to herself. "All everyone wanted to do was ask me more questions, and questions, and a bunch of compliments here and there…"

She began gripping her bed covers tightly.

"I didn't even get any time to talk to David or Janet," She whispered to herself.

_Wait, why am I concerning myself with those losers? _She thought, confused. _They don't mean anything to me, they're just geeks._

She gritted her teeth in irritating. Her head was beginning to hurt from all the stuff she was thinking.

_Our play date is coming up in about an hour, _Brenda thought. _Oh boy, this ought to be fun. I'm going to the houses of the kids who have probably listed me at the top of their "Most Hated Kids' list._

She sat up as she remembered something.

"Hey, what about that Sam kid," She said to herself. "Didn't he defend David when Izzy and those other kids ganged up on him. But he's never shown concern for David."

Her eyes widened a bit.

"And his hair was a different colour at that point," She remembered. "And nearly every time I've seen him, he wears black and blue. And David and Janet seemed to know so much about mirror people at around the same time I've seen him with them."

She sprang from her bed.

"I got it!" She shouted. "He's a mirror person fanatic just like me!"

She raced downstairs where her parents were watching a soccer game.

"Mom, dad, we have to go to the Barrets house RIGHT NOW!" She shouted, startling Bob and Mary. The two turned to their daughter.

"But your play date is in another hour!" Mary complained.

"I don't care!" Brenda said. "We go to their house or I go alone!"

With a groan, Bob and Mary got up from their couch, shut off the television, and followed their daughter out the house.


	25. The Second Play Date

"It's almost time," Janet whispered to David in his bedroom. "The Collins are coming over soon."

"Darn it, if only we could postpone it somehow," David said. He thought a bit, and then decided. "Well, it couldn't hurt to try."

"Try what?" Janet asked, somewhat nervous.

"Excuse me, I'm going to go ask my parents if we can stop this play date, at least for today," David said and sprinted out of the room before Janet could respond.

"They're not going to listen, you know," Janet called out, even though she knew David wasn't listening. The ten year old boy took off down the stairs, nearly tripping a few times, then reached the kitchen.

"Mom, dad, could we compromise our play date?" He asked bluntly. Felix and Agatha turned around.

"Why ever would we do that?" Felix asked, confused.

"Look, there's a lot of things happening lately," David replied. "Sam's powers, some other stuff, and this bruise I got on my face. And now Brenda, Bob and Mary are coming over."

"So, it's a play date," Agatha said.

"What if the Collins find out about Sam's powers?" David pointed out. "They are nosy people who can't keep their mouths shut about anything. They'll tell others, and authorities will probably find out, and they'll take Sam away!"

"He can defend himself, I'm sure," Felix said.

"He's still a little kid," David reminded. "He may be able to hold out for a bit, but not forever. They will be able to overpower him."

At that, Felix and Agatha began thinking things over.

"Son, maybe you have a-" Felix began when the door suddenly burst open to reveal Brenda and a very agitated Bob and Mary.

"Hello, Barrets!" Brenda said joyfully. She rushed over and hugged Felix and Agatha, then rushed over and embraced David, who reluctantly hugged her back.

"Your acting won't work on me," David whispered while the two hugged.

"Just go along with it," Brenda whispered back through gritted teeth. The two freed each other and turned to their bewildered parents.

"Well, you two are sure getting along better than before," Agatha said hopefully. "Maybe this play date will turn out much better than before."

"You bet," Brenda said, still keeping her cheerful façade for her parents and David's.

"Look, I know we don't exactly get along that much, but we do this for you kids," Bob said. "So, you could hurry up upstairs and start doing what friends do while we have dinner, 'kay?"

Brenda and David nodded and Brenda dragged David upstairs.

The moment they were upstairs, David freed himself from Brenda's grasp and pushed her into a wall. He hissed, "Whatever you have planned, I won't let you get away with it."

"Mellow down, Davey, I'm not trying to be malevolent, for now," Brenda reassured. David, unconvinced, nevertheless released Brenda. She brushed off her gray shirt and said, "So, where is Little Jane?"

"None of your business," David said. Unfortunately, Janet happened to open the door right at that moment and interrupted the two. David face palmed.

"I see you're here early," Janet whispered. Brenda nodded while David rolled his eyes.

"Let's just get this over with quickly with no problems, right?" Janet said, hoping to avoid conflict. David and Brenda reluctantly nodded as well.

Brenda then pushed past Janet and opened the door to Janet's bedroom. "Where is he?" She whispered to avoid David and Janet hearing her.

"Hey, you're not allowed in my room!" Janet insisted, pushing the door closed. Brenda raised her hands up, mockingly feigning fear, and said, "Oh come on, what's to hide!"

The three then heard Sam sneeze from inside Janet's room. "Who was that?" Brenda asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Uh, that was me," David said, but he knew they were screwed.

Brenda rolled her eyes at him. "David, you are way to old to be coming up with these stupid excuses," She sneered and then kicked the door open.

However, she saw nobody.

"You see, nobody's there," Janet said hopefully. Brenda scrunched up her nose, unconvinced, and then her eyes landed on Janet's bed, which was very messy, with the bed covers in disarray.

"I've never seen your bed look like that, Janet," Brenda inquired, stepping inside. Janet gulped and grabbed Brenda by the collar.

"I'm fixing it later," Janet replied, panicking. Brenda simply brushed Janet off and then lunged at the bed, ripping the covers off. Sure enough, Sam was hiding on the bed, and looked up nervously to see the three kids staring at him.

"Uh, hey Brenda," He whispered nervously. Then, before she could react, he grabbed one of Janet's pillows and smacked Brenda in the face with it. Brenda threw the pillow away, but by then, Sam and Janet had already taken off.

David was about to follow, but Brenda grabbed him and pushed into a chair. Then, using Janet's jump rope, she tied him to the bed.

"Okay, what was…I think his name was Sam doing in here?" She interrogated. Before David could reply, Agatha called out from downstairs, "Hey, what are you kids doing up there?"

"She has me tied to a chair!" David called out.

"We're just playing a game!" Brenda shouted.

"No, don't listen to her!" David panicked.

"Um, if you're just playing a game, I guess it's okay," Agatha said. David groaned.

"Well, using my brilliant mind, I figured that Sam is-" Brenda started. David squeezed his eyes shut, certain Sam's secret had been found out.

"-a mirror person fanatic like me!" Brenda finished. "And he's told you all their secrets!"

David opened his eyes, and his jaw hit the floor. "Are you…kidding me?" He asked in disbelief. "You came to THAT conclusion?"

Brenda nodded triumphantly. "Pretty smart, eh?" She asked.

"…That wasn't even close," David said. "We knew what a mirror person was before we even formally met Sam."

"Well how did you know then?" Brenda asked. However, she shushed David before he could reply.

"Wait a minute, you have dark clothing, and a bunch of mirrors, and your sister has blue eyes," Brenda said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" David asked, confused. "I like Batman, we have no more mirrors than your family, and blue eyes is a fairly common eye color."

"By gosh, I figured it out!" Brenda shouted, ignoring what David had said. "The mirror people are YOU!"

"WHAT?!" David shouted in disbelief. "No, the mirror person is Sam!" He then realized what he just said and silently cursed.

Brenda paused and stared at him. "What did you say?" She asked, shocked.

David gulped. He realized he had a lot of explaining to do when Sam and Janet found out about this.


	26. The Secret is Revealed

David cursed to himself. How could he have revealed Sam's secret to Brenda so quickly? She'd barely even began interrogating him and he'd already spilled.

Brenda was staring at him, wide-eyed in shock, and repeated, "What did you say?"

David simply shrugged. He realized he couldn't just act like he hadn't said anything because Brenda obviously wouldn't buy it. David decided it was time to come clean.

"Fine, we found out Sam is one of those mirror people you've been trying to track down for years," David confessed. "Janet was telling the truth when she said Sam had rescued her from that dog days ago."

Brenda stifled a giggle. "Oh David, you can't possibly believe me to be _that _stupid," She said, putting her hands on her hips. "Sam is a weirdo, but he can't possibly be a mirror person. If he was, I'd have found out long ago."

"Well, he is," David snapped, narrowing his eyes. "You're not a senior mirror person-buster, you're a little girl. And you have to manipulate and emotionally torment and even littler girl to gain information so you can even have a change of finding a real mirror person."

Now it was Brenda who narrowed her eyes. "Hey, it's not my fault your sister is terrible at keeping secrets," She snapped. "It didn't even take that much provocation to convince her. And besides, I would've found out Sam was a mirror person sooner or later anyways."

"Well we beat you to the catch," David remarked. "You want to find a mirror person to hog all the glory for yourself, but you failed. Me and Janet found a mirror person quicker than you, and we weren't even trying to find one in the first place."

"Beginner's luck," Brenda insisted.

"No, we're not beginners at catching mirror people no matter how you put it," David said, struggling against his restraints, "But we are naturally superior when it comes to deducing who is a mirror person or not. After all, we've already found another mirror person."

David's eyes widened as he realized he'd revealed another secret.

Before Brenda could respond, David shouted, "I'm not telling you who the second mirror person is, so don't bother trying to get me to spill!"

"Fine then," Brenda said. "But if you excuse me…" She walked past David towards the door.

"Where are you going?!" David shouted, attempting to free himself. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to go find some proof about your little Sam superstition," Brenda said. "Then once I reveal it to the authorities, my family will become famous, and my parents will finally notice me!"

"What do you mean, your parents will finally notice you?" David asked.

"That is one secret I'm not revealing too soon!" Brenda said bluntly and took off out of the room. The moment she was gone, David began to struggle even harder on the ropes to free himself. Eventually, he managed to grab the end of the rope with his free hand and began to slowly untie himself.

"Almost there…got it!" David said triumphantly as he freed himself from the ropes. Getting out of the chair, he said to himself, "Now to go find my sister before Brenda does something stupid!"

* * *

Brenda was already downstairs and bolted into the kitchen, where Bob and Mary were, as usual, insulting Felix and Agatha.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Mary asked. Felix and Agatha shrugged.

"To shoot Felix!" Bob finished as he and Mary laughed. However, Brenda interrupted them.

"Mom, dad, I need to tell you something about that hobo that lives in the forest," She claimed, tapping her parents on the shoulders.

"Not now, Brenda, we're making witty banter," Bob said, brushing Brenda off.

"But dad, it's important," Brenda insisted, gritting her teeth.

"Tell us later," Mary said, gesturing with her hand. Brenda groaned in frustration and exited the kitchen and abandoned the house.

"Gosh, our daughter can get a little annoying at times," Mary groaned.

"Good thing we managed to set up that play date to get her out of the way for a while," Bob replied. Felix and Agatha, who were listening, blinked a bit.

"Wait, what did you say about setting up the play date?" Felix said, his eye twitching.

"Oh, well, we needed some way to get Brenda occupied so we orchestrated this play date so she could hang out with your kids so we could have some fun," Mary explained cheerfully.

"But you said months ago you wanted your daughter to have friends," Agatha said, folding her arms. "And since David and Janet were her closest acquaintances, it would make sense to have these routine play dates."

"Oh we do, we just wanted it so she couldn't bother us," Bob said.

"So we had to suffer all this time for no reason other than that you thought your daughter was a burden?" Agatha correctly guessed. Bob and Mary shrugged, then nodded.

"Hey, what's with those evil looks on your faces?" Bob asked when he noticed the sinister glare on Felix and Agatha's faces.

* * *

The window of the kitchen was smashed open as Bob's body went crashing outside and onto the driveway of the Barret's house. He lay on the house, groaning in pain, feeling a few of his bones were injured. Soon enough, his wife was defenestrated out another window as well.

"And never come back!" Felix and Agatha both shouted at the injured Collins, then left the kitchen in a huff.

Bob and Mary lay on the ground, groaning in pain. "I think…they've officially ended…the play dates." Bob clarified before passing out, along with Mary.

* * *

Sam and Janet had taken off into the forest, near the area where Sam's mirror was hidden. They stopped to take breaths after fleeing from the house.

"You know, I feel kind of bad about abandoning your brother like that," Sam said guiltily, as he struggled to regain his breath.

"Trust me, I'm sure he can handle himself," Janet replied unaware of how wrong she was. "David's my older brother, I think he can deal with some brat."

The two kids regained their posture.

"Sam, I noticed that hours ago, you seemed to panic a bit when we mentioned Lizzy," Janet pointed out. "When we talked about her hitting David, and you acted like this happens on a daily basis or something."

Sam suddenly got nervous. "It's…complicated," Was all he got out.

"What do you mean?" Janet asked, intrigued.

"Well, when you have to put up with looking after Bella for so long, it can make someone a bit…temperamental," Sam insisted. "But you don't have to worry about it."

"Sam, we've only known each other for a few days, but I need to know if you're in trouble or something," Janet responded, worried.

"Hey, I can take care of myself," Sam asserted, and conjured a small fireball. "You see?"

Before Janet could respond, a voice called out, saying, "A-HA!"

Sam and Janet spun around to see Brenda holding a camera. Instinctively, Sam threw the fireball away, which burnt a small flower.

"I knew you were a mirror person!" Brenda claimed. "Now I just need some proof!" She aimed the camera at Sam.

Sam, however, reverted into his blonde disguise. "Let's see you get proof when I look normal, miss snarker," He insisted.

Brenda lowered the camera. "Oh, I have a way!" She said. "Janet told me one thing about Mirror People, and I've remembered it!" She advanced towards Sam, but Janet blocked her.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Janet shouted. Brenda pushed Janet out of the way and grabbed Sam by the arm. He initially raised his arm to strike, but Brenda simply said, "You wouldn't dare attack me. I'll just tell on you and you'll be in even bigger trouble!"

Sam, realizing the futility of the situation, was dragged off by Brenda as Janet followed.

The three arrived at a small lake, where Brenda pushed Sam towards the water. "So, you have a living blue reflection, it appears!" Brenda said. "This will prove it!"

She held Sam over the lake, and just as Brenda had predicted, Sam's reflection materialized in the lake. His reflection was crystal blue, and he was wearing a light blue shirt. The moment the reflection in the water noticed what was happening, his face contorted into horror.

Janet gasped, and even Brenda was in shock. However, a smile formed on her face and she pulled out a camera.

"Now I can finally prove this phenomenon!" Brenda said, and aimed the camera at the reflection to take a snapshot.


End file.
